TANZANIA is ranked among five of the top 10 freshwater fish producers in the world in 2022, according to a new FAO report titled “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024: Blue Transformation in action”. The list of top 10 global freshwater fish producers (in descending order) comprises Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Uganda, Tanzania, India, China, Indonesia, Nigeria and Egypt.
While a drop in China’s freshwater catches has been offset by the expansion of freshwater aquaculture and culture-based fisheries that has resulted in an overall increase in China’s total freshwater production in 2022, the relatively modest growth in freshwater catches has been driven by increasing production among several of the major producing countries, especially Bangladesh, Tanzania and India.
As a result of the impact of Covid-19, the FAO report says, Africa experienced a drop in production in 2020 especially in Egypt, Africa’s top producer, and Nigeria, the top producer in sub-Saharan Africa. “Africa produced just over 2.3 million tonnes of farmed aquatic animal species in 2022, an increase of only 50 500 tonnes (2.2 per cent) from 2020.
The net increase came mainly from freshwater aquaculture, mostly in Ghana, followed by Zambia, Tanzania and Rwanda.” The report says in 2022, Egyptian aquaculture production was 2.2 per cent (39 500 tonnes) lower than the 1.6 million tonnes produced in 2020 – the result of a slight drop in two consecutive years, while Nigeria witnessed a drop to below its 2020 production level following a recovery in 2021.
Tanzania (2021), Namibia (2022), Madagascar, Malawi and Uganda (2023) have already developed National Plans of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries (NPOAs-SSF) and two countries are developing or finalising their plans in 2024. In Tanzania’s major lakes, important fish species include small pelagic, tilapia and perch fisheries.
Globally, freshwater fisheries include large lakes, reservoirs, rivers and floodplains, swamps, streams and ponds, reservoirs, canals, ditches and rice fields. Fishing in these water bodies is mainly small-scale in nature, with 99 percent of total freshwater capture production coming from small-scale fisheries.
“Double-digit percentage contractions in output (compared with 2020 production levels) were observed in landlocked Malawi (−23.9 per cent), Uganda (−18.2 per cent) and Zimbabwe (−60.7 per cent). Important African finfish producers adopting marine cage culture recorded decreases in production from 2020: by 11.6 per cent in Tunisia, despite an all-time high in 2021, and by more than half (53.2 per cent) in Mauritius.”
The report suggests world fisheries and aquaculture production rose to 223.2 million tonnes, with 185.4 million tonnes of aquatic animals and 37.8 million tonnes of algae in 2022. Thus, successful initiatives are needed to maintain aquatic foodstuffs for global food security, nutrition and livelihoods. “Of the total aquatic animal production, 89 per cent was used for human consumption, equivalent to an estimated 20.7 kg per capita in 2022. The rest went to non-food uses, mostly fishmeal and fish oil.”
According to the FAO report, global aquaculture production reached 130.9 million tonnes, valued at $312.8 billion, 59 per cent of global fisheries and aquaculture production. “Freshwater aquaculture contributed 62.6 per cent of farmed aquatic animals, marine and coastal aquaculture 37.4 per cent.”
For the first time, FAO says, aquaculture surpassed capture fisheries in aquatic animal production with 94.4 million tonnes, representing 51 per cent of the world total and a record 57 per cent of the production destined for human consumption. Furthermore, 62 per cent of aquatic animals were harvested from marine areas (69 per cent from fisheries and 31 per cent from aquaculture) and 38 per cent from freshwater (84 per cent from aquaculture and 16 per cent from capture fisheries).
Contributions of Asian countries to total fisheries and aquaculture production in 2022 stood at 70 per cent of the aquatic animals, followed by Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean (9 per cent each), Africa (7 per cent), Northern America (3 per cent) and Oceania (1 per cent).
Tanzania surfaces also in global farmed algae, whose production in 2022 reached 36.5 million tonnes, an increase of 1.4 million tonnes (4.1 per cent) from the 2020 production of 35.1 million tonnes. The increase is attributed to production expansion led by China, followed by Malaysia, the Philippines, Tanzania, the Russian Federation and a few others. However, this upward production trend was offset by drops (in descending order of reduction in output) in Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Japan and a few other smaller producers. The production of cultivated algae more than tripled in the same year.
FAO says interest in the production and utilisation of algae (seaweed and micro-algae) has increased greatly in recent years beyond the traditional Asian producing countries. “Algae contribute significantly to food and nutrition security, provide ecosystem services, and their production and processing offer significant employment opportunities for coastal communities, in particular for women and the youth.”
The report says algae can represent a nutritious, healthy, high-fibre and low-calorie food option. According to FAO, in light of the growing global population and mounting environmental challenges, seaweed emerges as a sustainable solution to bolstering food security and restoring aquatic ecosystems. Seaweed production gains momentum due to the fact that unlike land-based crops, it makes use of seawater, thereby avoiding competition for arable land and freshwater resources.
“These seaweeds are not only fundamental elements of local cuisines, but are also highly valued for their rich micronutrient content. As such, they play a crucial role in shaping national culinary traditions and show potential as valuable contributors to global efforts to improve food security.”
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