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Aquatic foods to nourish nations

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher D. Golden

    (Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
    Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
    Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health)

  • J. Zachary Koehn

    (Stanford University)

  • Alon Shepon

    (Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
    Tel Aviv University
    Tel Aviv University)

  • Simone Passarelli

    (Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health)

  • Christopher M. Free

    (University of California, Santa Barbara
    University of California, Santa Barbara)

  • Daniel F. Viana

    (Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
    Conservation International)

  • Holger Matthey

    (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO))

  • Jacob G. Eurich

    (University of California, Santa Barbara
    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
    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)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • 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 & E, 2021. "Aquatic foods to nourish nations," Nature, Nature, vol. 598(7880), pages 315-320, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:598:y:2021:i:7880:d:10.1038_s41586-021-03917-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03917-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Matthew R. Smith & Samuel S. Myers, 2018. "Impact of anthropogenic CO2 emissions on global human nutrition," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(9), pages 834-839, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Laura Wessels & Marian Kjellevold & Jeppe Kolding & Cyprian Odoli & Inger Aakre & Felix Reich & Johannes Pucher, 2023. "Putting small fish on the table: the underutilized potential of small indigenous fish to improve food and nutrition security in East Africa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(4), pages 1025-1039, August.
    2. Ling Cao & Benjamin S. Halpern & Max Troell & Rebecca Short & Cong Zeng & Ziyu Jiang & Yue Liu & Chengxuan Zou & Chunyu Liu & Shurong Liu & Xiangwei Liu & William W. L. Cheung & Richard S. Cottrell & , 2023. "Vulnerability of blue foods to human-induced environmental change," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(10), pages 1186-1198, October.
    3. Jessica A. Gephart & Rahul Agrawal Bejarano & Kelvin Gorospe & Alex Godwin & Christopher D. Golden & Rosamond L. Naylor & Kirsty L. Nash & Michael L. Pace & Max Troell, 2024. "Globalization of wild capture and farmed aquatic foods," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Csaba Hancz, 2022. "Application of Probiotics for Environmentally Friendly and Sustainable Aquaculture: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-16, November.
    5. Taryn M. Garlock & Frank Asche & James L. Anderson & Håkan Eggert & Thomas M. Anderson & Bin Che & Carlos A. Chávez & Jingjie Chu & Nnaemeka Chukwuone & Madan M. Dey & Kevin Fitzsimmons & Jimely Flore, 2024. "Environmental, economic, and social sustainability in aquaculture: the aquaculture performance indicators," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. Kangshun Zhao & Steven D. Gaines & Jorge García Molinos & Min Zhang & Jun Xu, 2024. "Effect of trade on global aquatic food consumption patterns," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Daniel F. Viana & David Gill & Alex Zvoleff & Nils C. Krueck & Jessica Zamborain-Mason & Christopher M. Free & Alon Shepon & Dana Grieco & Josef Schmidhuber & Michael B. Mascia & Christopher D. Golden, 2024. "Sustainable-use marine protected areas to improve human nutrition," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    8. Heimann, Tobias & Delzeit, Ruth, 2024. "Land for fish: Quantifying the connection between the aquaculture sector and agricultural markets," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    9. Sylvain Charlebois & Keshava Pallavi Gone & Swati Saxena & Stefanie Colombo & Bibhuti Sarker, 2024. "Assessing Consumer Implications of Reduced Salmon Supply and Environmental Impact in North America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-19, April.
    10. Naylor, Rosamond & Fang, Safari & Fanzo, Jessica, 2023. "A global view of aquaculture policy," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    11. Stefanie Colombo & Juan A. Manríquez-Hernández & Janet Music & Sylvain Charlebois, 2024. "Canadians’ Opinions and Preferences regarding Seafood, and the Factors That Contribute to Their Consumption and Purchasing Habits," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-12, January.
    12. William W. L. Cheung & Eva Maire & Muhammed A. Oyinlola & James P. W. Robinson & Nicholas A. J. Graham & Vicky W. Y. Lam & M. Aaron MacNeil & Christina C. Hicks, 2023. "Climate change exacerbates nutrient disparities from seafood," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 13(11), pages 1242-1249, November.

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