Valuation of Global Inland Fisheries Catch to Food Security

Freshwater ecosystems are more threatened than any other ecosystem, and 31% of the world’s species dependent upon freshwater aquatic ecosystems are threatened with extinction. Inland capture fisheries contribute to food and nutritional security, livelihoods and help address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Inland fisheries make a significant economic contribution nationally and globally, with an estimated value of USD 43 billion in 2015. Anthropogenic stressors such as overexploitation, pollution, dam construction and climate change threaten inland fisheries. There are significant knowledge gaps concerning the state of global inland fish statistics, which lead to the underestimation of inland capture fisheries. This study investigated the non- monetary value of inland capture fisheries with environmental repercussions and interruption to food security through the replacement of inland fisheries with alternative foods. The secondary aim of this study was to determine the contribution of river basins to global inland fisheries production, and suggest a more accurate figure of inland capture fisheries production.Inland fish catch reported to FAO in 2015 was 11.47 million tonnes; the majority of which came from, China, South-East Asia, Africa, South America and the Russian Federation. Because of the dispersed nature of inland fisheries, the negligible information on subsistence and recreational fisheries catches, inland fish catch data are considered underestimates. Using the most up to date primary and grey literature, the contribution of fish catches from 45 of the most important river basins, plus missing country data, were used to construct possible catches, and suggest inland fisheries production was more likely 16.1-16.2 million tonnes. There were several reasons why reported fish catch in each region could be underestimated, but regions, which were particularly deficient with fish catch data, were Southern Asia, China, Russian Federation, Africa and Eastern Europe. Currently, FAO Data are sufficient to offer an overview of status and general trends in global inland fish catch, but insufficiently detailed for basin or in- country analysis. Replacement of global inland capture fish production with equivalent foods indicated that there was sufficient land (aquaculture average agricultural land area 0.8%, livestock average pastureland area 1.2% and crop average agricultural land 0.06%) and water resources (aquaculture average agricultural water use 1%, livestock average 2.2% and crops average 0.9%) to replace fisheries. However, this was not the case at a regional level: there was insufficient water resources to replace fish in the Congo River Basin, also, replacement of capture fisheries in the African Great Lakes region with beef would require ≥100% of current agricultural water use. There would be insufficient pastureland land in Southern and South- East Asia to replace fish with beef or pork, which would require ≥50% of pastureland. Carbon emission would also increase with replacement of fish by other food commodities, with the highest sector emissions from beef replacement (26.5% increase in emissions). Expansion in agriculture to replace fish would likely lead to land degradation, decline in water quality and increased carbon emission. Replacement of the energy content from capture fisheries with equivalent foods indicated that global aquaculture production would require an average of 1458% of current global aquaculture production to replace inland capture fisheries. This was similar in each region where aquaculture replacement would be equal to at least 69% of current aquaculture production. Inland fish are rich in micronutrients, and replacement of micronutrients (iron, calcium, zinc, vitamin A, EPA and DHA) from fish from waterbodies with known catch, would require a significant increase in food production. Food and nutritional security would be affected if inland capture fisheries were replaced with other foods. Alternative foods are more expensive and inaccessible to poorer communities, and are not as nutritionally beneficial as fish.Replacement of predicted fish losses from hydropower in Cambodia and Vietnam represented a real life scenario of fish replacement. There are sufficient water resources within the countries to replace fish losses and there would be no change to the water scarcity classification of either country. However, there is not sufficient agricultural land in either country to replace fish losses with alternative foods, with the exception of rice, farmed Pangasius catfish and chicken replacement. Climate change projections indicated that capture fisheries production could increase by 10% alleviating some of the pressures of fish lost due to hydropower. Fish is pivotal in the diets of people in Vietnam and Cambodia and cannot easily be replaced.The outcome of this study indicated that reform and improvement of global and national statistics is needed to improve the reliability of inland capture fisheries statistics. Improved management of inland fisheries and inclusion through revision into the SDGs is also needed, and the replacement model used in this study could be used as an indicator of value of inland capture fisheries to help to inform future management decisions.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

PhD

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Hull

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Ainsworth, Rachel

• Fisheries

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:hull-repository.worktribe.com:4187889

Author Identifier

0000-0001-6669-0356

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:hull-repository.worktribe.com:4187889