Aquatic Food Systems and Nutrition Security

Aquatic food systems encompass the capture, cultivation, processing and distribution of fish, shellfish, algae and other organisms from marine and freshwater environments. They underpin the diets, livelihoods and cultures of more than three billion people, providing high-quality protein, essential fatty acids and micronutrients such as iron, zinc and vitamin B12. Compared with many terrestrial animal sources, aquatic foods often carry lower land use and carbon footprints, highlighting their potential role in more sustainable diets. Yet these systems face mounting pressures from overfishing, habitat degradation, pollution and climate-driven changes in species distribution and productivity. Ensuring nutrition security through aquatic foods requires attention to not only aggregate supply but also safety, diversity, affordability and cultural acceptability. Integrated policy frameworks now emphasise the need to balance nutrient objectives, environmental stewardship and socioeconomic resilience, aligning capture fisheries and aquaculture with robust governance, adaptive value chains and equitable access. By securing critical nutrients, offering healthy alternatives to terrestrial meats and safeguarding coastal and inland communities against environmental shocks, aquatic food systems can make a decisive contribution to global health, food security and ecological sustainability.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have delineated four policy pathways by which aquatic foods can reinforce national food system goals, emphasising targeted nutrient provision, healthy dietary substitutions for red meat, minimised environmental footprints and livelihood protection under climate stress. Vulnerability mapping of global blue food supplies has revealed that over 90% of production sites face significant risks from human-driven environmental change, with notable disparities between marine and freshwater systems. Projections of climate impacts on seafood nutrition indicate that warming scenarios could reduce the availability of iron, calcium and omega-3 fatty acids by up to 30% in tropical low-income regions by the end of the century, underscoring the imperative for effective mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Aquatic Food Systems and Nutrition Security publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in aquatic food systems and nutrition security across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Blue foods: Aquatic foods harvested or farmed in marine and freshwater environments, noted for their nutrient density and typically lower environmental footprints than terrestrial meats.

Aquaculture: The controlled cultivation of aquatic organisms—including fish, shellfish and algae—to produce food and other products.

Capture fisheries: The harvesting of wild aquatic species from oceans, rivers and lakes for human consumption or industrial use.

Nutrition security: Consistent access to safe, sufficient and culturally appropriate foods that provide essential nutrients for health and wellbeing.

Bioavailability: The proportion of a nutrient that is absorbed and utilised by the human body after ingestion.

References

1. Four ways blue foods can help achieve food system ambitions across nations. Nature (2023).
2. Vulnerability of blue foods to human-induced environmental change. Nature Sustainability (2023).
3. Climate change exacerbates nutrient disparities from seafood. Nature Climate Change (2023).
4. Deep-sea fisheries as resilient bioeconomic systems for food and nutrition security and sustainable development. Resources Conservation and Recycling (2023).
5. Scenarios for Global Aquaculture and Its Role in Human Nutrition. Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture (2020).
6. Feeding 9 billion by 2050 – Putting fish back on the menu. Food Security (2015).