Assessment of global fish footprint reveals growing challenges for sustainable production and consumption

Abstract

Globalization faces a tradeoff between meeting fish consumption demand for nutritious & healthy living and reducing the ecological footprint to achieve sustainable development. Here, we document drivers, historical trends, and mitigation options for global fish footprint using unevenly spaced data spanning 1961 to 2021 from over 200 economies while accounting for income classifications. We report a decline in fish production in developed countries, yet, their increased consumption demand per capita is met through overexploited stocks of fish imported from developing economies. Besides, global fish price volatility has no effect on fish distribution in high-income nations but highly influences fish production, consumption, import, and export in developing nations. The evidence of purchasing economies of scale in urbanized countries and the potential threat of embodied price in fish distribution and trade affect global fish footprint. The persistent increase in fish footprint can be attributed to affluence, choice of technology, urbanization, human development, marine trophic levels, emission intensity, and time-invariant & unobserved country-specificities. We highlight that aligning development and choices along the targets of sustainable development goals augments the achievement of sustainable fish production and consumption.