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Recognize fish as food in policy discourse and development funding

Bennett A 1 , Basurto X 2 , Virdin J 3 , Lin X 4 , Betances SJ 5 , Smith MD 6 Show all authors , Allison EH 7 , Best BA 8 , Brownell KD 9 , Campbell LM 2 , Golden CD 10 , Havice E 11 , Hicks CC 12 , Jacques PJ 13 , Kleisner K 14 , Lindquist N 15 , Lobo R 4 , Murray GD 2 , Nowlin M 16 , Patil PG 17 , Rader DN 18 , Roady SE 19 , Thilsted SH 7 , Zoubek S 20

Affiliations 

  • 1 Michigan State University, 1405 S. Harrison Road, Room 115, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA. benne592@msu.edu
  • 2 Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Rd., Beaufort, NC, 28516, USA
  • 3 Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, P.O. Box 90335, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
  • 4 Duke University Marine Lab, 135 Duke Marine Lab Rd, Beaufort, NC, 28516, USA
  • 5 Michigan State University, 1405 S. Harrison Road, Room 318, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA
  • 6 Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Box 90328, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
  • 7 WorldFish, Jalan Batu Maung, Batu Maung, Bayan Lepas, Penang, 11960, Malaysia
  • 8 U.S. Agency for International Development, 907 Westwood Drive, NE, Vienna, VA, 22180, USA
  • 9 Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, 201 Science Drive, Campus, Box 90245, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
  • 10 Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave. Bldg. 2, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
  • 11 Department of Geography CB#3220, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 220 Carolina Hall, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3220, USA
  • 12 Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK
  • 13 University of Central Florida, 4297 Andromeda Loop N. Howard Phillips Hall, Rm. 302, Orlando, FL, 32816-1356, USA
  • 14 Environmental Defense Fund, 18 Tremont Street, Ste. 850, Boston, MA, 02108, USA
  • 15 UNC Institute of Marine Sciences, 3431 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC, 28557, USA
  • 16 Duke Law School, 210 Science Drive, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
  • 17 The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street N.W., Washington, DC, 20433, USA
  • 18 Environmental Defense Fund, 4000 Westchase Blvd., Suite 510, Raleigh, NC, 27607, USA
  • 19 Duke Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20004, USA
  • 20 World Food Policy Center, Duke University, 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC, 20004, USA
Ambio, 2021 May;50(5):981-989.
PMID: 33454882 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-020-01451-4

Abstract

The international development community is off-track from meeting targets for alleviating global malnutrition. Meanwhile, there is growing consensus across scientific disciplines that fish plays a crucial role in food and nutrition security. However, this 'fish as food' perspective has yet to translate into policy and development funding priorities. We argue that the traditional framing of fish as a natural resource emphasizes economic development and biodiversity conservation objectives, whereas situating fish within a food systems perspective can lead to innovative policies and investments that promote nutrition-sensitive and socially equitable capture fisheries and aquaculture. This paper highlights four pillars of research needs and policy directions toward this end. Ultimately, recognizing and working to enhance the role of fish in alleviating hunger and malnutrition can provide an additional long-term development incentive, beyond revenue generation and biodiversity conservation, for governments, international development organizations, and society more broadly to invest in the sustainability of capture fisheries and aquaculture.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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