The vital roles of blue foods in the global food system

Tigchelaar, Michelle and Leape, Jim and Micheli, Fiorenza and Allison, Edward H. and Basurto, Xavier and Bennett, Abigail and Bush, Simon R. and Cao, Ling and Cheung, William W.L. and Crona, Beatrice and DeClerck, Fabrice and Fanzo, Jessica and Gelcich, Stefan and Gephart, Jessica A. and Golden, Christopher D. and Halpern, Benjamin S. and Hicks, Christina C. and Jonell, Malin and Kishore, Avinash and Koehn, J. Zachary and Little, David C. and Naylor, Rosamond L. and Phillips, Michael J. and Selig, Elizabeth R. and Short, Rebecca E. and Sumaila, U. Rashid and Thilsted, Shakuntala H. and Troell, Max and Wabnitz, Colette C.C. (2022) The vital roles of blue foods in the global food system. Global Food Security, 33: 100637. ISSN 2211-9124

Abstract

Blue foods play a central role in food and nutrition security for billions of people and are a cornerstone of the livelihoods, economies, and cultures of many coastal and riparian communities. Blue foods are extraordinarily diverse, are often rich in essential micronutrients and fatty acids, and can often be produced in ways that are more environmentally sustainable than terrestrial animal-source foods. Capture fisheries constitute the largest wild-food resource for human extraction that would be challenging to replace. Yet, despite their unique value, blue foods have often been left out of food system analyses, policies, and investments. Here, we focus on three imperatives for realizing the potential of blue foods: (1) Bring blue foods into the heart of food system decision-making; (2) Protect and develop the potential of blue foods to help end malnutrition; and (3) Support the central role of small-scale actors in fisheries and aquaculture. Recognition of the importance of blue foods for food and nutrition security constitutes a critical justification to preserve the integrity and diversity of aquatic species and ecosystems.