Aquatic foods to nourish nations

Christopher D. Golden (), J. Zachary Koehn, Alon Shepon, Simone Passarelli, Christopher M. Free, Daniel F. Viana, Holger Matthey, Jacob G. Eurich, Jessica A. Gephart, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Elizabeth A. Nyboer, Abigail J. Lynch, Marian Kjellevold, Sabri Bromage, Pierre Charlebois, Manuel Barange, Stefania Vannuccini, Ling Cao, Kristin M. Kleisner, Eric B. Rimm, Goodarz Danaei, Camille DeSisto, Heather Kelahan, Kathryn J. Fiorella, David C. Little, Edward H. Allison, Jessica Fanzo and Shakuntala H. Thilsted
Additional contact information
Christopher D. Golden: Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
J. Zachary Koehn: Stanford University
Alon Shepon: Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Simone Passarelli: Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Christopher M. Free: University of California, Santa Barbara
Daniel F. Viana: Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Holger Matthey: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Jacob G. Eurich: University of California, Santa Barbara
Jessica A. Gephart: American University
Etienne Fluet-Chouinard: Stanford University
Elizabeth A. Nyboer: Carleton University
Abigail J. Lynch: U.S. Geological Survey, National Climate Adaptation Science Center
Marian Kjellevold: Institute of Marine Research
Sabri Bromage: Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Pierre Charlebois: Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Manuel Barange: Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Stefania Vannuccini: Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Ling Cao: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Kristin M. Kleisner: Environmental Defense Fund
Eric B. Rimm: Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Goodarz Danaei: Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Camille DeSisto: Duke University
Heather Kelahan: Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Kathryn J. Fiorella: Cornell University
David C. Little: University of Stirling
Edward H. Allison: WorldFish
Jessica Fanzo: Johns Hopkins University
Shakuntala H. Thilsted: WorldFish

Nature, 2021, vol. 598, issue 7880, 315-320

Abstract: Abstract Despite contributing to healthy diets for billions of people, aquatic foods are often undervalued as a nutritional solution because their diversity is often reduced to the protein and energy value of a single food type (‘seafood’ or ‘fish’)1–4. Here we create a cohesive model that unites terrestrial foods with nearly 3,000 taxa of aquatic foods to understand the future impact of aquatic foods on human nutrition. We project two plausible futures to 2030: a baseline scenario with moderate growth in aquatic animal-source food (AASF) production, and a high-production scenario with a 15-million-tonne increased supply of AASFs over the business-as-usual scenario in 2030, driven largely by investment and innovation in aquaculture production. By comparing changes in AASF consumption between the scenarios, we elucidate geographic and demographic vulnerabilities and estimate health impacts from diet-related causes. Globally, we find that a high-production scenario will decrease AASF prices by 26% and increase their consumption, thereby reducing the consumption of red and processed meats that can lead to diet-related non-communicable diseases5,6 while also preventing approximately 166 million cases of inadequate micronutrient intake. This finding provides a broad evidentiary basis for policy makers and development stakeholders to capitalize on the potential of aquatic foods to reduce food and nutrition insecurity and tackle malnutrition in all its forms.

Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03917-1

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