•The importance of the fisheries sector in global food systems is often overlooked.•Nutrition-sensitive fisheries policies are needed to contribute to healthy diets.•Policy focus on aquaculture ...productivity and economic gains inhibits healthy diets.•Complementarity of capture fisheries and aquaculture improves nutrition and health.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda makes achieving food security and ending malnutrition a global priority. Within this framework, the importance of fisheries in local and global food systems and its contribution to nutrition and health, particularly for the poor are overlooked and undervalued. This paper reviews current fish production and consumption from capture fisheries and aquaculture, highlights opportunities for enhancing healthy diets and outlines key multi-sectoral policy solutions. Mirroring the call for a diversification of agricultural research and investment beyond a few staple grains, it is anticipated that productivity gains for a few farmed aquatic species will not suffice. Capture fisheries and aquaculture have a complementary role to play in increasing fish availability and access, and must be promoted in ways that support measurable nutrition and health gains. This paper argues that the lack of a nutrition-sensitive policy focus on capture fisheries and aquaculture represents an untapped opportunity that must be realised for ensuring sustainable healthy diets for all.
Fisheries and fish supply are undergoing a fundamental structural transition, as indicated by a ten country analysis. Aquaculture now provides around half the fish for direct human consumption and is ...set to grow further, but capture fisheries continue to make essential contributions to food and nutrition security throughout the global South. Capture fisheries provide diverse, nutritionally valuable fish and fish products which are often culturally preferred and easily accessed by the poor. Technological changes in aquaculture have dramatically increased fish supply, lowered relative fish prices, and reigned in price volatility. Policies that recognize and safeguard the diversity and complementarity of roles played by capture fisheries and aquaculture are needed to ensure that the transition in fisheries sustainably improves food and nutrition security in the global South.
•Fish make an irreplaceable contribution to food and nutrition security.•Global capture fisheries output is static, but aquaculture is growing rapidly.•Capture fisheries remain the most important source of fish for many poor people.•The two sectors' contributions to food and nutrition security are highly complementary.
Dried fish—here defined broadly as aquatic animals preserved using simple techniques, such as sun‐drying, salting, fermentation, and smoking that permit storage as foods at ambient temperature for ...extended periods without specialized packaging—have received little direct attention in fisheries research. This lack of visibility belies their historical and contemporary importance. Prior to the introduction of refrigeration, dried fish were the main form in which fisheries catches were traded and consumed. Dried fish products remain a core component of production, trade, diets, and cuisines across the world, particularly in the Global South. The dried fish sector provides employment for millions of people, particularly women, who comprise most of the fish‐drying workforce in many locations. However, the sector also confronts and creates significant challenges including food safety concerns and exploitative labour conditions. This paper is the first systematic assessment of the global literature on dried fish, comprised of a sample of >1100 references. In contrast to the general fisheries literature, which is dominated by studies of ecology and governance and focusses mainly on primary production, the dried fish literature is dominated by studies from food science and concentrates on the processing segment of fish value chains. As such, it offers valuable reference point for fisheries research, which is becoming increasingly attentive to food systems. This paper uncovers a wealth of insights buried in this largely unheralded literature, and identifies key thematic intersections, gaps and research questions that remain to be addressed in the study of dried fish.
Undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies such as anemia are considered significant public health challenges in Bangladesh, which enhancing fish consumption is a well-established food-based ...intervention to address these. This paper documents the establishment of community-based fish chutney production and reports the impact of its consumption on mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and hemoglobin (Hb) levels among targeted 150 pregnant and lactating women (PLW) in rural Bangladesh. A fish chutney was developed using locally available ingredients followed by a series of laboratory tests, including nutrient composition, shelf-life and food safety. A community-based fish chutney production process was designed to: (1) supply locally available ingredients for processing; (2) establish two fish drying sites; (3) initiate a community-based production site; and (4) distribute fish chutney to PLW for one year by six women nutrition field facilitators. Then a pre- and post-intervention study was designed for a selected 150 PLW to receive 30 g of fish chutney daily for 12 months. Differences in mean MUAC and Hb levels pre- and post-consumption were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance. Consumption of 30 g of fish-chutney resulted in significant increases of the mean values of Hb levels and MUAC among the targeted PLW.
Fish is a major part of the Bangladeshi diet, but data on the nutrient composition of marine fish species are sparse. Mesopelagic fish may be a new potential resource of food and nutrients; however, ...nutrient composition data are lacking. The aim of this study was to provide nutrient composition data of fish species sampled off the coast of Bangladesh and determine their potential contribution to recommended nutrient intakes (RNI). Seven species from the pelagic, mesopelagic, and demersal zones were sampled from the coast of Bangladesh with Dr. Fridtjof Nansen in 2018. Three pooled samples containing 15-840 individuals from each species were analysed at the Institute of Marine Research, Norway. The demersal species contained substantially lower concentrations of nearly all nutrients, whereas the mesopelagic species generally were more nutrient dense. All species, except for the demersal species Bombay duck (9% dry matter), were found to contribute ≥100% to the RNI of vitamin B12, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and selenium. All species, except for the demersal fish species, contributed ≥25% to the RNI of six or more nutrients. The data presented in this paper are an important contribution to the Bangladeshi food composition table and contribute to the understanding of fish as an important source of micronutrients.
Background:
Within food-based approaches to improve nutrition during the first 1000 days of life, improved formulations of food products and the use of animal source foods, such as fish, are 2 widely ...cited strategies; however, there are few examples where the 2 strategies are combined. Furthermore, although small indigenous fish are highly nutritious and available to the poor in many regions of the world, their importance is often overlooked.
Objective:
To document the development of 2 nutritious fish-based food products in Bangladesh: a chutney for pregnant and lactating women (PLW) and a complementary food (CF) for infants and young children (6-23 months), including potential contributions to recommended or desirable nutrient intakes in the first 1000 days, processing methods, and nutrient composition.
Methods:
Local nutrient-rich ingredients and simple processing methods based on traditional knowledge (for the chutney), and a literature review (for the CF), were selected and trial batches produced. Products were analyzed for nutrient composition using standard analytical procedures and results compared with recommended or desirable nutrient intakes for women and children.
Results:
Both products could contribute significantly to micronutrient intakes of PLW (24% of iron and 35% of calcium recommended intakes) and macro- and micronutrient intake of infants and young children (≥65% of vitamin A, ≥61% of zinc, and 41% of iron desirable intakes) when consumed in the proposed serving size.
Conclusion:
Inclusion of small indigenous fish as an underutilized animal source food in combination with other local nutrient-rich ingredients in food products represents a promising food-based strategy to improve nutrition, with many additional potential benefits for communities involved in production, and therefore warrants further investigation.
Introduction
Small indigenous fish species (SIS) can be particularly rich in micronutrients and make a crucial contribution toward improving human nutrition. The introduction of mola (
...Amblypharyngodon mola
), an SIS, which is particularly rich in vitamin A, into smallholder carp aquaculture systems has been widely promoted over the past decade as a promising nutrition-sensitive innovation. However, standardized techniques for the hatchery mass production of mola do not yet exist. We hypothesized that the lack of commercial hatchery mass-production techniques for mola seed is the key barrier limiting potential for widespread adoption of carp–SIS polyculture.
Methods
To address this gap, we conducted breeding trials at a private hatchery in Odisha, India, from July to September 2022, to identify standardized methods for the hatchery-based mass production of mola seed. Breeding was induced using a synthetic gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog (SGnRHa) at 0.5 mL and 0.25 mL per kg of body weight of female fish and male fish, respectively. Fish spawned in double hapas in breeding tanks.
Results
The average fertilization, spawning, and hatching rates over 10 breeding cycles were 81%, 82%, and 85%, respectively. A total of 8.5 million fertilized eggs and 6.4 million hatchlings were produced. The survival of fry during larval rearing trials at a stocking rate of 500 hatchlings/m2 was 58% after 22 days. The mola hatchlings and fry were sold to 29 farmers at prices comparable to those of Indian major carp.
Discussion
This article makes a unique contribution to the literature by documenting the entire process of hatchery-based mass mola seed production, including broodfish collection and maintenance, hormone dose optimization, breeding arrangements, breeder characteristics, breeding behavior and performance fecundity, larval rearing, and seed sales to farmers. This information is intended to serve as a protocol to be followed by any individual or institution with an interest in mola breeding and represents an important contribution to the development of nutrition-sensitive aquaculture.
Fish make an important contribution to micronutrient intake, long-chained polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFAS), and animal protein, as well as ensuring food and nutrition security and ...livelihoods for fishing communities. Micronutrient deficiencies are persistent in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), contributing to public health issues not only in the first 1000 days but throughout adolescence and into adulthood. School feeding programs (SFPs) and home-grown school feeding programs (HGSF), which source foods from local producers, particularly fisherfolk, offer an entry point for encouraging healthy diets and delivering essential macro- and micronutrients to schoolchildren, which are important for the continued cognitive development of children and adolescents and can contribute to the realization of sustainable development goals (SDGs) 1, 2, 3, 5, and 14. The importance of HGSF for poverty alleviation (SDG1) and zero hunger (SDG 2) have been recognized by the United Nations Hunger Task Force and the African Union Development Agency–New Partnership for African Development (AUDA-NEPAD), which formulated a strategy for HGSF to improve nutrition for the growing youth population across Africa. A scoping review was conducted to understand the lessons learned from SFPs, which included fish and fish products from small-scale producers, identifying the challenges and best practices for the inclusion of fish, opportunities for improvements across the supply chain, and gaps in nutritional requirements for schoolchildren which could be improved through the inclusion of fish. Challenges to the inclusion fish in SFPs include food safety, supply and access to raw materials, organizational capacity, and cost, while good practices include the engagement of various stakeholders in creating and testing fish products, and repurposing fisheries by-products or using underutilized species to ensure cost-effective solutions. This study builds evidence of the inclusion of nutritious fish and fish products in SFPs, highlighting the need to replicate and scale good practices to ensure sustainable, community-centred, and demand-driven solutions for alleviating poverty, malnutrition, and contributing to greater health and wellbeing in adolescence.
Background and Objectives: Mola (Amblypharyngodon mola) is a nutrient-rich, small fish found in ponds and rice fields in Bangladesh. The aim of the present intervention was to assess the effect of ...mola consumption on iron status in children with marginal vitamin A status.
Methods and Study Design: Bangladeshi children (n=196), aged 3-7 years, with marginal vitamin A status were randomly allocated to one of three intervention groups served different fish curries: mola curry (experimental group); rui (Labeo rohita) curry with added retinyl palmitate (positive control group); or rui curry (negative control group). The intervention meals were served 6 days/week for 9 weeks. The experimental and positive control meals were designed to contain similar amounts of retinol activity equivalents per portion. The mola curry contained four times more iron compared to the rui curries due to different iron content in the two fish species. Haemoglobin, ferritin, serum transferrin receptor and C-reactive protein were measured at screening and endpoint.
Results: In the experimental group receiving mola, serum transferrin receptor concentration declined 0.73 mg/L (95% CI 0.17, 1.28, p=0.01) compared to the positive control group, while there were no differences between groups in ferritin or haemoglobin.
Conclusions: Consumption of mola instead of rui has potentially an effect on iron status in children with marginal vitamin A status, seen as a decrease in serum transferrin receptor concentration.
The contribution of seafood to global food security is being increasingly highlighted in policy. However, the extent to which such claims are supported in the current food security literature is ...unclear. This review assesses the extent to which seafood is represented in the recent food security literature, both individually and from a food systems perspective, in combination with terrestrially-based production systems. The results demonstrate that seafood remains under-researched compared to the role of terrestrial animal and plant production in food security. Furthermore, seafood and terrestrial production remain siloed, with very few papers addressing the combined contribution or relations between terrestrial and aquatic systems. We conclude that far more attention is needed to the specific and relative role of seafood in global food security and call for the integration of seafood in a wider interdisciplinary approach to global food system research.
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