A joint report by three in
ternational organisations says fish farming will provide close to two thirds of global food fish consumption by 2030.
The report was issued by the World Bank, UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) last  Thursday in Rome and Washington.
It is among the key findings of “Fish to 2030: Prospects for Fisheries and Aquaculture,” a collaboration between the World Bank, FAO and IFPRI.
The FAO said that currently 38 per cent of all fish produced in the world was exported and in value terms over two thirds of fishery exports by developing countries were directed to developed economies.
“Fish to 2030 report finds that a major and growing market for fish is coming from China which is projected to account for 38 per cent of global consumption of food fish by 2030.
“China and many other nations are increasing their investments in aquaculture to help meet this growing demand.
“Asia, including South Asia, South-East Asia, China and Japan is projected to make up 70 per cent of global fish consumption by 2030.
“Sub-Saharan Africa, on the other hand, is expected to see a per capita fish consumption decline of 1 per cent per year from 2010 to 2030.
“But due to rapid population growth of 2.3 per cent in the same period, the region’s total fish consumption will grow by 30 per cent overall.”
The report also predicted that 62 per cent of food fish would come from aquaculture by 2030 with the fastest supply growth likely to come from Tilapia, Carp and Catfish.
It said that global tilapia production is expected to almost double from 4.3 million tons to 7.3 million tons a year between 2010 and 2030.
The report quoted IFPRI’s Siwa Msangi as saying that the fast-moving nature of aquaculture is what made the sector challenging to model.
“At the same time, the most exciting in terms of future prospects for transformation and technological change.
“Comparing this study to a similar study we did in 2003, we can see that growth in aquaculture production has been stronger than what we thought,’’ it said.
It added that the World Bank’s Director of Agriculture and Environmental Services, Juergen Voegele, said the report provides valuable information for developing countries interested in growing their economies through sustainable fish production.