CAN THE WORLD’S OCEANS FEED HUMANITY? (DUARTE ET AL, BIOSCIENCE 2009)

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) judges that by 2050 globally we will need a 70% increase in cropping and grazing to feed the estimated 9 billion world population. At current terrestrial food production yields, we will need cropping and grazing to increase by 70% to meet the demands of population growth. It is clear that more of our food must come from the sea.

OF FISH AND HUMANS

“the fisheries are inexhaustible”

What we do to fish

HU

MAN

S AND

O

CEANS

OF FISH AND HUMANS

OF FISH AND HUMANS

OF FISH AND HUMANS

Australia controls 14.7 million square kilometres of marine resources.

Where does our fish come from?

70% of our seafood is imported

Where does it come from?• Thailand 26%;• China 14%;• Vietnam 12%United Nations Code of Conduct

for Responsible Fisheries Australia ranked 4th Thailand 42nd, China 22nd, and Vietnam 45thii.

An Australian study reports that 7% of consumers are concerned with sustainability, while only 3% say they would pay 10% more to buy sustainable fish (Birch and Lawley, 2011).

Eat more

Think outside the box

MERwww.sustainablefishlab.org

Maricultures Environmental Research is the node of the Sydney Environment Institute dedicated to multidisciplinary research on the culture and nature of the oceans, particularly in regard to fisheries.

We bring together scholars from the humanities and social sciences and the marine sciences to reflect on and intervene in the pressing issues facing the sea and its inhabitants including the humans that live on and with the marine.