Humans consume 151.2m tonnes of fish - NaijAgroNet:

NaijAgroNet:

Human beings across the world consumed a total of 151.2 million tonnes of fish as food, says the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This is coming as 27 per cent of all landings were recorded as spoilage due to thrown away after landing and prior to consumption, from the total global fish produced as at 2016 recorded 171 million tonnes.

NaijaAgroNet gathered from the report, showed that the share of that from marine capture fisheries was 79.3 million tonnes, while freshwater capture stood at 11.6 million tonnes whereas, from aquaculture was 80 million tonnes.

The first-sale value of all fisheries and aquaculture production in 2016, NaijaAgroNet gathered, was $362 billion and attracted from aquaculture the sum of $232 billion.

The number of people employed in fisheries and aquaculture, NaijaAgroNet reports was 59.6 million in the period under review, while the percentage of those who are women: 14 per cent.

The region with the most fishers and fish farmers during this review was Asia which recorded 85 per cent of the total, even as the number of fishing vessels on the planet was 4.6 million.

The largest fleet by region was from Asia and recorded 3.3 million vessels, or 75% of the global fleet, just as value of fish production exports was $143 billion.

Net export revenues for developing countries ($37 billion) exceeds revenues from their exports of meat, tobacco, rice and sugar combined, while world's largest fish producer and exporter was China, while the world's largest consumer market of fish and fish products are the European Union, followed by the United States;  and leaving Japan at third place.

The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 highlighted how important fishing and fish farming are for people's livelihoods, including millions of families belonging to some of the world's poorest communities.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Humans, wildlife can mutually co-existence - FOA

NaijaAgroNet:

Experts have said that humans and wildlife can mutually co-existence, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Several wildlife species, NaijaAgroNet gathered may cause significant damage to crops and livestock systems, threatening peoples' food security, safety and well-being, which experts see as in extreme cases, attacks by wildlife species such as elephants and crocodiles can cause human injuries and death.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation latest publication with focus on wildlife, noted that human-wildlife conflicts have become more frequent and severe particularly in Africa, due to increasing competition for land in previously wild and uninhabited areas.

“This is often the result of human population growth, increasing demand for natural resources, and growing pressure for access to land, such as expansion of transport routes, agriculture and industries,” part of the report read.

NaijaAgroNet reports that more specifically, the publication stressed that in central and southern Africa, wildlife and people will continue to share landscapes and resources with conflicts likely to worsen unless actions are taken.  

In this regard, FAO said that the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) and other partners developed the first Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) toolbox, which has helped a local community in Gabon's Cristal Mount National Park.

The report further noted that local farmers in this area were particularly frustrated by the fact that animals such as cane rats, roan antelopes, bush pigs and elephants, were destroying their entire crops, and thus threatening their livelihoods. At the same time, laws prohibited these farmers from taking action by hunting the protected animals either for meat or to protect their crops.

However, the solutions offered by the toolkit included fencing the plantations to block animals from reaching the crops, lighting fires or making noises to scare the animals away, and posting guards to keep watch on plantations at night - measures that were relatively easy and inexpensive to implement.

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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Oceans, critical to food security -SenzeniZokwana

NaijaAgroNet

Fish has been described as the highest source of the world’s protein consumed by humans, making the oceans vital to food security, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Based on this, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister, Senzeni Zokwana said South Africa need to produce more Marine, Forestry and Fisheries scientists.

Zokwana,NaijaAgroNet learnt, was among other industry leaders at the commemoration of World Oceans Day, where the Status of Marine Fisheries Resources Report was equally unveiled in Cape Town.

“We know that achieving food security in its totality continues to be a challenge for the whole world and in particular for the developing nations when you consider the proportion of the population affected,” he said.

Minister Zokwana also said that the development of new fisheries remains a critical part of government, hence the launch of operation Phakisa, as a means to unlock the oceans’ economy, adding that “Our planet comprises 71% of the ocean. It is the most important life-support systems on earth, and almost all humans on earth depend on the sea natural resources”.

He pointed out that half of the world’s population lives with 200 kms of the coastline.

“Oceans produce 50 percent of the oxygen necessary for human survival and therefore, the sustainable use and management of the oceans even its resources, is therefore critical to us today and for the future generation,” he said.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ GEE

 
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