Aquaculture: the booming animal protein
The industrial development of aquaculture industry is quite recent and fast. Did you know that the production and consumption of fish and other aquatic organisms in the world grow continuously every year? According to the FAO (2024) consumption of all aquatic animal production is 89 % which is equivalent to 20.7 kg per capita in the year 2022. This represents more than 15% of global animal protein consumption, and it is expected to reach 21.5 kg by 2030. In the year 2022 global aquacultural production is valued at USD 312.8 billion, which equates to 130.9 million tons or 59% of global fisheries and aquacultural production. Inland aquaculture reached 62.6 % of farmed aquatic animals of total global production, whereas marine and coastal production accounted for 37.4%. 2022 aquaculture production surpassed capture fisheries with 94.4 million tons (FAO, 2024).
An uneven geographical spread
The consumption and production of aquatic animal protein sources is very unevenly distributed. Asia as a whole region makes up 91.4% of the global total production of aquatic animals and plants (e.g. algae), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (3.3%), Europe (2.7%), Africa (1.9%), Northern America (0.5%) and Oceania (0.2%). A total of ten countries produced 89.8% of the total aquatic production, namely China, Indonesia, India, Viet Nam, Bangladesh, Philippines, South Korea, Norway, Egypt and Chile (FAO, 2024).
Fish farming vs. wild capture
Fortunately marine species are increasingly protected and the mindset of Blue Transformation is setting in. According to the FAO (2024), 76.9% of aquaculture already comes from biologically sustainable populations and this proportion is expected to continue increasing in the coming years. As a matter of fact the amount of wild capture has only grown with 14% since 1990. By far most of the increased demand has been solved by industrialized aquaculture. That industry has grown 527% (!) in the same period. The efforts of this industry globally are paying off. This is a relief for the environment but for us as consumers as well, since fish and fishery products are considered among the healthiest foods with the least impact on the environment.
Our role to play
Perstorp offers solutions that have shown to support aquaculture professionals to improve the growth rate and feed conversion of several species. Want to know more? Contact us if you’re interested in hearing more about the solutions we can offer for aquaculture >>