Fish Matters: Importance of Aquatic Foods in Human Nutrition and Global Food Supply

Abstract In a world where nearly 30% of humanity is suffering from malnutrition and over 70% of the planet is covered with water, aquatic foods represent an essential component of the global food basket to improve the nutrition, health, and well being of all peoples. It is not by chance that Japan, the country with one of the world's highest reported life expectancies and lowest incidences of obesity and deaths from heart related illnesses, is also one of the world's top consumers of captured and farmed aquatic animal food products and aquatic plants. According to the FAO, in 2009, total captured and farmed aquatic animal food products accounted for 16.6% of the global population's intake of animal protein,…