Blue food

Blue foods, also known as aquatic foods, are plants and animals sourced from aquatic environments and are suitable for human consumption. More than 2500 species of marine and freshwater animals, aquatic plants, and algae have been identified as relevant to the human diet.

Origin of the term

The term was coined in the Blue Transformation Strategy of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Blue Foods are therefore linked to the blue economy principle. Blue food is the first internationally applicable term which, by definition, includes animal and plant foods from the sea and freshwater. The latter also distinguishes it from the English term seafood, for which there is no equivalent in many other languages.

Background

The social and political discussions regarding food systems have predominantly revolved around terrestrial agriculture and livestock farming, overlooking the significance of blue foods. Blue foods such as fish, invertebrates, algae, and aquatic plants, which are caught or bred in freshwater and marine ecosystems, have been excluded from broader food system conversations. Initiatives such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)´s roadmap for the blue transformation stress the important role of blue food for feeding a growing world population, and at the same time underscore the necessity of integrating sustainable practices into aquatic food production for long-term viability.

The role of blue foods is among others described in the Blue Food Assessment. The report is backed by more than 100 scientists from 25 universities, including Stanford University, the Stockholm Resilience Center and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research.

Sustainability evaluation

Economic factor

Blue foods are obtained using a range of different methods - from large deep-sea trawlers to small carp ponds, which date back to 2,500 years in areas such as the Mediterranean and China. Economically, blue food systems significantly contribute to global trade and livelihood support, benefiting millions of people worldwide directly or indirectly. Local adaptation strategies enhance the resilience of these systems to external stressors, fostering economic stability in coastal and riparian communities. The FAO estimates that the livelihoods of approximately 800 million people rely on blue food systems, either directly or indirectly. In countries of the global South, the net income generated by blue food trade exceeds that of all other agricultural commodities. Overall, fish and seafood are among the world's most traded goods, generating an estimated 151 billion US dollars a year.

Complex global supply chains with limited transparency can pose just as much of a challenge to the sustainable production of blue food as taking the rights of indigenous peoples or traditional coastal fishing into consideration. Certification programmes and the associated controls along the supply chain can be an important step towards greater transparency, although they meet their limits in autocratic countries.

Nutrition

Blue foods are valued for their nutritional richness, providing essential proteins, vitamins, micronutrients and fatty acids vital for human health.

They play a crucial role in addressing dietary deficiencies prevalent in regions with limited access to diverse food sources: In many African and South American countries, a higher consumption of blue foods is suggested as compensation for the lack of vitamin B12 and omega-3. In many countries of the global North, the rates of cardiovascular disease, which are associated with a high consumption of red meat, among other things, are considered to be reduced by switching to an alternative, moderate but regular consumption of seafood.

Environment

From an environmental perspective, blue foods often have a smaller ecological footprint compared to terrestrial protein sources. For example, the pelagic fishing of herring or anchovies, or the cultivation of carp, have a significantly lower carbon or climate footprint than the farming of chickens, the most environmentally friendly of all terrestrial animal foods. There are examples of how the aquacultures of algae or mussels even improve the water quality of their location. Additionally, blue foods often have a low to zero consumption of lifestock feed and agrochemicals; wild caught fish and seafood do also consume zero freshwater and land.

In other areas, the environmental impact of blue food can also be high if fisheries and aquaculture operations do not follow rigid sustainability criteria. A third of the world's fish stocks are considered to be overfished, and unsustainable fisheries and aquaculture have a negative impact on the ecosystem and pose a threat to marine biodiversity. Examples of this include the destruction of fauna and flora on the seabed by bottom trawlers fishing in sensitive marine areas, the deforestation of mangrove forests for fish farms and the transfer of diseases and pharmaceutical residues into wild waters by unsustainable aquaculture operations.

Greenhouse gas emissions can also be higher with some farming or fishing methods than with others.  

In light of these risks, the United Nations considers ending overfishing and making global fisheries and aquaculture more sustainable to be one of the core tasks of the Blue Transformation Strategy - and an essential prerequisite for the long-term preservation of blue food and healthy ecosystems. Stronger intergovernmental regulation and control mechanisms for fishing and aquaculture, as well as voluntary certification programmes and environmental labels, such as that of the Marine Stewardship Council, offer solutions here.

See also

• The Blue Economy
• Fishery
• Human food
• Food sources

External links

• Blue Food Assessment
• Blue Transformation Roadmap (FAO)
• The Blue Food Revolution