The report also shows that aquaculture is expected to supply more than half of the fish for consumption in the region.
Fish to 2050 in the ASEAN Region says that policies to promote sustainable aquaculture expansion and law enforcement in fisheries management are critical to ensuring sustainable growth in both sectors.
For ASEAN countries fish is a hugely important source of nutrition, also providing income, opening up employment opportunities and alleviating poverty.
“The presence of strong institutional networks and private sector investment has played an important role in supporting the development of the aquaculture sector. However investment in research is essential to advance sustainable aquaculture technologies to improve efficiency gains, reduce production costs and mitigate environmental risks,” says Michael Phillips, Director of Aquaculture and Fisheries Science, WorldFish.
In other news, Scotland's aquaculture and fisheries industries are to receive over £8 million in funding from the European and Maritime Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
The latest round of funding will deliver 41 projects which will contribute to the sustainable management of fisheries and marine ecosystems and help businesses upgrade or modernise their equipment, and move into new markets.
Fisheries Secretary Fergus Ewing said: “This £8 million investment will encourage growth and protect jobs in the sea fisheries and aquaculture industry by allowing businesses to upgrade technology and buy new equipment.
“This is just one example of why EU funding is so important as it is helping the sea fisheries sector improve the quality of its products and enabling them to develop more environmentally friendly methods."
As Aquaculture America 2017 kicks off this week, TheFishSite has published a special feature on the changing image of the aquaculture industry in the US.
In the US the public perception of aquaculture has suffered from an image problem over the years, wrote Aaron Orlowski. While the industry has taken huge steps to address this, consumers’ understanding of the provenance of farmed fish is still lagging behind.
Read more of this feature, here.
