Dear all our attendees of WAC 2023
Total fisheries and aquaculture production globally reached a record 214 million tonnes in 2020, comprising 178 million tonnes of aquatic animals and 36 million tonnes of algae, largely due to the growth of aquaculture, particularly in Asia. Sustainable aquaculture development remains critical to supply the growing demand for aquatic foods. FAO’s outlook for fisheries and aquaculture to 2030 projects an increase in production, consumption and trade, albeit at slower growth rates. Total production of aquatic animals is expected to reach 202 million tonnes in 2030, thanks mainly to sustained growth of aquaculture, projected to reach 100 million tonnes for the first time in 2027 and 106 million tonnes in 2030. World capture fisheries is projected to recover, increasing by 6 percent from 2020 to reach 96 million tonnes in 2030, as a result of improved resource management, underfished resources, and reduced discards, waste and losses.
The Russia-Ukraine war has impacted many industries created uncertainty for various projections but also opening the opportunities for the unexplored arenas. Atlantic Salmon & Shrimp are two candidate species among the global seafood sector driving huge trade. The announcement of an introduction of resource tax in Norway at aquaculture sector has created the chaos however government is firm to implement it from 1st Jan 2023. This may create the impact on temporary basis but may probably open up some hidden opportunities on longer perspectives considering sustainable domestic production development. India is the dominant producer of shrimp and though facing some tough situations presently, it will come out of the difficult scenario giving stability to the sector in coming time in spite of challenges from the competition shrimp producing countries.
Many large-scale companies in the segment showing seriousness towards implying ESG initiatives in the ongoing business and some are ahead of the curve. Slowly developing “Alternative Seafood” are expected to grow significantly in next 8-10 years & shall become visible across shelves in different markets. Seafood is one of the important proteins and shall continue to hold its importance in the global food supply chain. The sector will experience hit because of recession same as other sectors but will pass through it recovering in post-recession phase.
I hope the 3rd Edition of “World Aquaculture & Fisheries Conference” 2023 will witness one of the challenging & innovative brainstorming discussions & themes revolving around growing Global Fisheries & Aquaculture segment. I wish every speaker, audiences, participants a very best wishes to make the event grand success.
Yours Sincerely
Amod Ashok Salgaonkar
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer, A2S2 Enterprises India