Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 126

PART 2 FAO FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE IN ACTION
BOX 9
CONTRIBUTION OF RECREATIONAL FISHING IN INLAND WATERS
FAO (2012b) defines recreational fishers as those
who do not rely on fishing to supply a necessary part
of their diet or income. In those countries where
recreational fishing is a common pastime (primarily in
developed countries, but increasingly in developing
countries as well), it is estimated that participation is
on average 6.7 percent of the national population. In
some countries, occasional fishing by household
members may have a dual role of providing
recreation as well as food fish for the household.
Reporting of recreational catches (requested by FAO since 1995) remains rare, even when they contribute
to household food availability and livelihoods.
Although securing food is not a primary purpose of
recreational fishing (unlike subsistence fishing), the
retained catch from recreational inland fisheries may
be more than 4 percent of the total global reported
inland fishery catch. In addition to contributing to
economies and general well-being, recreational
fisheries may be a driver for improved habitat and
ecosystem conservation (Cowx, Arlinghaus and
Cooke, 2010).
molluscs and plants from wetlands, rivers, lakes,
reser voirs and rice fields provide a sustainable
source of food, containing a wealth of nutrition,
to the populations that exploit them. The global
catch of 11.6 million tonnes is equivalent to the
total dietar y animal protein requirement of 158
million people, or 2 percent of the global
population. In an area of the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, fish was consumed on average over
five times per week, and 31 percent of households
consumed fish ever y day (HLPE, 2014). contributed on average 37, 51, 39 and 33 percent
of their total protein, calcium, zinc and iron
intake, respectively (HLPE, 2014).
Goal 3: Good health and well-being
Inland fisheries contribute to health and well-
being not only through improved nutrition and
livelihoods (see above), but also in the biological
control of disease vectors. Mosquitofish, carp and
tilapia have been used in many areas to control
vectors of diseases such as malaria, Zika and
bilharzia through predation on the hosts of the
parasites. In East Africa, Lake Victoria supplies
drinking-water to millions of people in the lake
basin, and the wetlands surrounding the lake act
as natural bio-filters treating wastes and
improving water qualit y for humans and fish.
Replacing this ecosystem ser vice would cost the
equivalent of 35 percent of the value of crop
production from those wetlands (Simonit and
Perrings, 2011).
Inland fisher y resources are accessible to
people, often landless poor people, in remote,
open-access, rural and developing areas. The
fishing gear is inexpensive and often requires
little or no mechanization. Around 94 percent
of the small-scale inland production is
consumed within the countr y of origin (Mills
et al., 2011). The products are inexpensive,
often consumed by producer households, often
processed with traditional methods such as
fermentation, and use the entire fish, including
bones and organs, with little or no waste
( World Bank, 2012).
Goal 5: Gender equality
Inland fisheries can and do empower women and
contribute to gender equit y. The World Bank
(2012) indicated that about 35 million of the
estimated 60 million people engaged in global
inland fisheries and their value chains – about
half – are women. However, their role has largely
been unrecognized (HLPE, 2014). Women are
strongly associated with the post-har vest sector,
In terms of food utilization, the benefits of inland
fish in the human diet are well established (Roos,
2016) (see section on “Fish for food securit y and
human nutrition”). In a study of women in rural
Cambodia, inland fish and other aquatic animals
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