Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 128

PART 2 FAO FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE IN ACTION
value chains and to improve the nutritional value
provided by inland fisheries can yield
considerable benefits.
FIGURE 35
ESTIMATED INCREASE IN GREENHOUSE GAS
EMISSIONS IF INLAND FISHERIES WERE
REPLACED BY OTHER FORMS OF FOOD
PRODUCTION
Preser vation greatly increases the geographic
scope of many inland fisheries. In particular, the
dried fish trade in Africa results in the movement
of considerable tonnages of freshwater fish
within countries and often between them.
CURRENT GHG EMISSIONS FROM
Inland fish
Goal 13: Climate action
43 million tonnes
Inland fisheries are a low carbon footprint food
source compared to terrestrial agriculture, marine
fisheries and fed aquaculture. Inland fisheries
require neither feed nor fertilizer (the main
contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in
agriculture) and often use non-mechanized gear
that does not require fuel (consumed by boats
using active fishing gear in major marine fisheries)
(Clark and Tilman, 2017). Global greenhouse gas
emissions would be significantly higher if inland
fisheries had to be replaced with other forms of
animal protein production (Lymer et al., 2016b;
Ainsworth and Cowx, 2018) (Figure 35).
Mainly from gear construction and fuel use
Net increase in greenhouse gas emissions if inland fisheries
were replaced with other forms of food production:
Aquaculture
+22.3 million tonnes
Average value for salmon, trout and tilapia
Beef
Goal 14: Life below water
+0.82 billion tonnes
This goal is primarily directed at marine
ecosystems. Nevertheless, coastal environments
and even marine species can depend greatly on
the integrit y of freshwater systems, which not
only provide nutrients that allow coastal
production to take place, but also support
anadromous fish species which make up
substantial coastal and marine fisheries (e.g.
salmon, Hilsa shad [Tenualosa ilisha] and other
shad) and high-value fisheries for diadromous eel
around the world. While Goal 14 does not
explicitly include sustainabilit y indicators for
inland fisheries, countries may report on the
status of these fisheries in relation to Goal 14 if
they wish to do so.
Feed production, methane release from cattle
Rice
+9.3 billion tonnes
High methane release from paddy fields
SOURCE: Ainsworth and Cowx, 2018
below the global median (less than USD 4 800
purchasing power per capita per year), the impact
of this fish supply is even more important
(Macint yre, Reidy Liermann and Revenga, 2016).
In contrast with many marine capture fisheries,
inland fisheries involve ver y little unused bycatch
or discards. However, in a few important inland
fisheries and value chains, post-har vest qualit y
loss is substantial (e.g. approximately 30 percent
loss in the small pelagic fisheries of the African
Great Lakes). Efforts to reduce waste in these
Goal 15: Life on land
Freshwater ecosystems are a rich source of
biodiversit y. They cover about 1 percent of the
Earth’s surface but provide habitat for almost half
(about 14 000) of the world’s fish species. Rice
fields are a particular source of freshwater
biodiversit y; in some cases this diversit y has
greater economic value than the rice
(Muthmainnah and Prisantoso, 2016). Rice fields
were shown to contain about 200 different
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