1. Contributions of fisheries and aquaculture in the Asia-Pacific region

The capture fisheries and aquaculture sectors are of fundamental importance to the Asia-Pacific region in terms of food security, revenue generation and employment. In many countries, catching or farming aquatic resources forms a vital part of rural people's livelihoods. In cultural terms, aquatic resources mean more than a source of income or food supply; traditional fishery products such as fish sauce and fish-based condiments are important ingredients of people's daily diet which are not easily substituted. People utilize all sizes and types of fish and there is very little discard or wastage of this valuable resource. It is only now becoming apparent that fish play an important role in both the food security and nutritional security of many rural and coastal populations.

1.1 Contribution to national economies

Fisheries and aquaculture production is a clear contributor to national economies across the Asia-Pacific region. Crude estimation of capture production value^[1] indicates that the contribution of capture fisheries to GDP accounts for more than one percent in many States in the region (Table 1). Capture fisheries are particularly important in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), where the fisheries sector plays a critical role in the national economies. The economic contribution of fisheries production is less in South and Southeast Asian States, yet there are still ten of these States to which fisheries contribute more than one percent of GDP. It is also worth noting that these figures for fisheries value are probably underestimated and do not adequately value the artisanal part of the sector. Overall it is clear that more policy attention should be paid to this important production sector. For example, according to the official reports from Cambodia, fisheries production is more valuable than rice production in the country.

Aquaculture also makes an important contribution to GDP. In Asian States, which are the production centre of aquaculture, aquaculture production accounts for over one percent of GDP in seven States. Statistics related to export income from aquaculture products are not generally available and this affects the estimation of the contribution to foreign currency earnings through exports of aquaculture products.

It is clear that the State listings above also closely match those States which export considerable amounts of aquaculture products (particularly shrimp). China PR is an exception in this case, since the majority of aquaculture products it produces are consumed domestically, although there is an increasing trend towards export focussed products.

Table 1
Contribution of capture fisheries and aquaculture to GDP

Employment, income and trade

The information on employment in fisheries and aquaculture in the Asia-Pacific region is very scanty and only a few States report the number of fishers and fish farmers. Despite this, there are clear indications that fisheries and aquaculture play a substantial role in providing vital income generation opportunities to the people. In Indonesia, capture fisheries sector offered a fulltime or part time job to 3.3 million people^[3], which accounted for 3.6 percent of the population of 15 years of age and over (2000)^[4]. Gender segregated data on employment are available in India, where 7.9 million of male and 2.7 million of female workers were directly engaged in fishing and fish farming. In the Philippines the fisheries sector provides direct and indirect employment to over one million people, or about 12 percent of the agriculture, fishery and forestry sector workforce^[5].

FAO (1998)^[6] estimated that Asia accounted for 85 percent of the total global number of persons engaged in fisheries production (total 25 million). These figures typically represent full time fisheries and those for whom fishing is a highly significant activity. It is well known that such estimates typically do not include those who fish seasonally or as a supplemental part of a more diverse livelihood. The estimated figure can therefore be considered a lower threshold.

In addition to those people involved directly in the primary production sector, it should be noted that there are also a number of people who are engaged in the supporting industries of fisheries and aquaculture such as boat building, ice making, feed manufacturing, processing, marketing and distribution of fisheries and aquaculture products. As demand outstrips supply, the price of fish is increasing world wide and fish is becoming a "cash crop". In many cases, the more marketable fish are being sold to provide income that is used to purchase other more affordable food items.

Fisheries products are highly traded commodities in the Asia-Pacific region bringing valuable foreign exchange earnings to exporting States. Over the past 20 years, many developing countries have become net exporters of fish, rather than net importers, a trend very evident in the Southeast Asia region. Thailand is a major exporting State in the region, exporting 1.2 million tonnes of fisheries products with the foreign exchange earning of US$ 3.7 billion in 2002. Fish is a particularly important internationally traded commodity for SIDS where land-based resources are very limited. In Marshall Islands, the contribution of fisheries products was as high as 79 percent of total exported commodities of the State by value in 1997. In many developed States, such as Japan, the trend has been reversed with these countries becoming net importers, rather than net exporters. The quantity of imported fisheries products in China PR exceeded that of exported products in 2002; however, China PR achieved a remarkable trade surplus of US$ 2.4 billion from fisheries products, indicative of the strong value adding that occurred in the process.

1.2 Contribution to food security

Importance of fish in human nutrition

Fish is a food of excellent nutritional value and it makes a very significant contribution to the diet of many fish-consuming communities in both the developed and developing world.

Fish provides high quality protein and a wide variety of vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A and D, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, and iodine, especially in marine fish. Fish is also a valuable source of essential fatty acids and its protein is easily digestible.

Even in small quantities, fish can have a significant positive impact on improving the quality of dietary protein intake by complementing the essential amino acids that are often present in low quantities in the rice-and-vegetable diets typical of many developing States. In particular, fish is a rich source of lysine which is an essential amino acid that is often deficient in rice diets with little animal protein.

Recent research shows that fish is much more than just an alternative source of animal protein. Fish oils in fatty fish are the richest source of a type of fat that is vital for brain development in unborn babies and infants. Closely spaced pregnancies, as often seen in developing States, can lead to the depletion of the mother's supply of essential fatty acids, leaving younger siblings deprived of this vital nutrient at a crucial stage in their growth. This makes all fish and especially fatty fish, such as tuna, mackerel and sardine, particularly good components of the diet of pregnant and lactating women. It is therefore apparent that fish makes a valuable contribution to the nutritional quality of the diets of the populations of many developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Trends in fish consumption

Taken globally about one billion people rely on fish as their main source of animal protein, especially in coastal areas where the dependence on fish is typically high. About 20 percent of the world's population derives at least 20 percent of its animal protein from fish, and some small island States depend on fish almost exclusively. For instance, fish contribute more than, or close to, 50 percent of total animal proteins in some small island developing States and in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and Sri Lanka.

Asia and the Pacific represents the most important region for fisheries and aquaculture production. It has a number of States with the highest per capita consumption. Importantly, the source of fish in the diet of rural people in this region is gradually changing. Rural populations that were once almost entirely dependent upon inland capture fisheries for their food have seen the decline of fisheries resources through environmental changes and changing water management regimes. Aquaculture fish has become an increasingly viable alternative to inland capture fish as cheap wild fish become less available. This trend is also accompanied by rising prices for fish.

Fish consumption in selected States

Globally 100 million tonnes of fish were available for consumption in 2001 and two-thirds of this total was consumed in Asia. Of this, 36.2 million tonnes were consumed outside China PR (14.0 kg per capita) and 42.6 million tonnes in China PR alone (25.6 kg per capita). Per capita consumption in Oceania was 23.0 kg. Maldives recorded the highest rate of per capita supply of fish (185.9 kg per year) in this region, followed by Kiribati (75.2 kg per year). There are considerable intra-regional variations depending on access to inland and marine capture fisheries and suitability of environments for aquaculture.

Existing estimates of food consumption are derived from food balance calculations based on reported catches. These provide statistics of total and per caput fish supply in live weight and contribution of fish to animal protein supply by State. However, as with production data, their reliability has often been questioned. In this review, fish consumption of selected States where survey data are available was examined.

Bangladesh

The availability of non-cereal protein food in Bangladesh has reportedly increased significantly and has had a sustained growth rate of over eight percent per annum in the fishery and livestock sectors in recent years. National nutrition surveys of Bangladesh during 1995-1996 indicated the average fish intake was 11.7-13.5 kg/capita/yr for rural and urban populations, with a national average of 12 kg/capita/yr.

Cambodia

Studies carried out in the late 1990s recorded a fish consumption of 38-58 kg/capita/yr in Southeast Cambodia. Another estimate puts the per capita consumption of fish in Cambodia as high as 67 kg/capita/yr.

India

Diet surveys in India in 1996 showed that the intake of fish and meat was very low (6.9 and 4.0 kg/capita/yr) in the diets of the urban and rural poor.

Lao PDR

Consumption of fish varies greatly ranging from 15 to over 57 kg/capita/yr. An overall average for most of the provinces lies between 15-25 kg/capita/yr.

Viet Nam

According to nutritional surveillance data in Viet Nam, the consumption of animal foods is noted to be increasing. In 1995, fish and sea food consumption in three sub-regions, namely Red River, Northern Central and Mekong Delta, were 15.6, 17.9 and 29.2 kg/capita/yr respectively.