The shift of phosphorus transfers in global fisheries and aquaculture

Global fish production (capture and aquaculture) has increased quickly, which has altered global flows of phosphorus (P). Here we show that in 2016, $$2.04_{1.59}^{3.09}$$2.041.593.09 Tg P yr−1 (mean and interquartile range) was applied in aquaculture to increase fish production; while $$1.10_{1.04}^{1.14}$$1.101.041.14 Tg P yr−1 was removed from aquatic systems by fish harvesting. Between 1950 and 1986, P from fish production went from aquatic towards the land-human systems. This landward P peaked at 0.54 Tg P yr−1, representing a large but overlooked P flux that might benefit land activities under P scarcity. After 1986, the landward P flux decreased significantly, and became negative around 2004, meaning that humans spend more P to produce fish than harvest P in fish capture. An idealized pathway to return to the balanced anthropogenic P flow would require the mean phosphorus use efficiency (the ratio of harvested to input P) of aquaculture to be increased from a current value of 20% to at least 48% by 2050 — a big challenge.