Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 133

THE STATE OF WORLD FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE 2018
BOX 11
IMPORTANCE OF INLAND FISH FOR LOW-INCOME FOOD-DEFICIT COUNTRIES AND LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES
The distribution of inland capture fishery production is
worldwide, and over 90 percent is directed for human
consumption. Freshwater fish are a rich source of
protein for human health, particularly for the poorest
and most vulnerable (Belton and Thilsted, 2014; Lymer
et al., 2016a). LIFDCs are characterized by constraints
on food security and nutrition and by inadequate or
uncertain food production capacity to meet the needs
of their populations. Landlocked countries do not have
marine capture fisheries and depend on freshwater
fish production (from inland fisheries or aquaculture)
unless they are able – and choose – to compete for
fish on global markets.
Of a total of 161 countries that report inland capture
fisheries, 50 are classified as LIFDCs (representing 28
percent of the global population). They produce 4.9
million tonnes of freshwater fish each year, or 43
percent of global inland production. The 44 landlocked
countries account for 11 percent of global inland fishery
production. Of these, 20 countries are both landlocked
and LIFDCs; these countries produce 9 percent of total
global inland fish. Thirteen of these landlocked LIFDC
countries are in Africa. Of the 13 countries with the
highest per capita inland fish consumption, 8 are LIFDCs
and 7 are landlocked (Figure 37).
Freshwater fish consumption in these countries
ranges from 5.2 to 35 kg per capita per year. The
access of rural populations in LIFDCs to imported
(marine and freshwater) fish products for food is highly
constrained because of economic and distribution
limitations. The current state of aquaculture
development in many of these countries is also
extremely low – with notable exceptions being (in
descending order of production) India, Bangladesh, the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Nigeria and
Uganda. Thus, obtaining fish locally within the rural
environment is the primary, and typically the only, way
to obtain fish in the diet.
FIGURE 37
COUNTRIES WITH HIGH PER CAPITA AVAILABILITY OF FISH FROM FRESHWATER CAPTURE FISHERIES,
HIGHLIGHTING LOW-INCOME FOOD DEFICIT COUNTRIES AND LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES
COUNTRIES WITH PER CAPITA
AVAILABILITY OF FISH FROM
FRESHWATER CAPTURE FISHERIES
>2 KG PER CAPITA PER YEAR, 2015
LIFDCs
Non-LIFDCs
Landlocked countries
NOTE: Final boundary between the Sudan and South Sudan has not yet been determined.
SOURCE: FAO, 2017n
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