Aquatic food security: trends and trade-offs in the aquatic food system in the UK

1. Aquatic food security: trends and trade-offs in the aquatic food system in the UK Simon Jennings, Cefas On behalf of the Cefas Aquatic Food Security Evidence Group Problems and solutions in food security: from surf to turf, 24 May 2016

2. Properties of a secure food supply Sufficient: meets ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ of consumers Safe Sustainable Sound Shock-proof Sufficient Sustainable: available now and for future generations Aquatic food supply Safe: is safe to eat Shock-proof: resilient to shocks in production systems and supply chains Sound:authentic and meets legal and ethical standards for people and animals

3. A sufficient aquatic food supply UK fish production Source: UK Sea Fisheries Statistics

4. A sufficient aquatic food supply Fisheries and aquaculture in Europe and Asia Source: FAO data

5. A sufficient aquatic food supply UK imports and exports of fish and fish products Source: UK Trade Statistics

6. A sufficient aquatic food supply Imports- exports by species: Source: Seafish

7. A sustainable aquatic food supply Fundamental differences in production systems ...

8. A sustainable aquatic food supply Environmental impacts of fishing and aquaculture Example impacts: Capture fisheries Low productivity and PET species Habitats Food webs Biodiversity/ Genetic effects Example impacts: Aquaculture Chemical / nutrient discharges De-oxygenation Inter-breeding Introduction of alien species

9. A sustainable aquatic food supply Cumulative catches from North Sea demersal fish stocks Cod Saithe Plaice Haddock Sole Source: ICES data

10. A sustainable aquatic food supply Cumulative catches from large pelagic stocks North Sea herring Blue whiting Mackerel Source: ICES data

11. A safe aquatic food supply Seafood: most highly-traded food commodity 40% ($127bn) enters international trade Highly perishable - several safety hazards National and international regulations for purpose of public safety Risk-based surveillance/control measures preferred over continuous monitoring Risks are chemical and biological

12. A shockproof aquatic food supply Resilience to: Weather, climate, disease, strikes, political unrest, failure of food to meet safety standards, breakdown of production or storage facilities or transport networks, economic factors (e.g. cost increases, reductions in purchasing power), health scares, consumer or supplier boycotts, campaign groups and trade restrictions or embargoes.

13. A shockproof aquatic food supply Fish diseases UK. Salmon lice. £33m pa-1. Resistance to current treatments. New approach needed EU. Sea bass/bream. VNN a major issue. Formalin withdrawn for use in aqua. No viable alternative at present Global. Pangasius and Tilapia. Rapid increase in production. Some poor practice (e.g.crowding, morts as feed), biosecurity, farm clustering, poor Govt. infrastructure. Emergent diseases likely.

14. A shockproof aquatic food supply Invertebrate diseases Shrimp aquaculture ~ $12bn/annum Loss due to ‘top 5’ viruses = total import of shrimp to the EU per annum (300Kmt) Total losses due to WSSV alone may be $15bn since emergence in early 1990’s Future projections Doubling of production by 2025 – 6Mmt of shrimp Loss due to ‘top 5’ viruses equals total import of shrimp to EU and USA (600Kmt) Worst case losses (~40%) would equal total current yield (3Mmt per annum)

15. A sound aquatic food supply Meeting legal standards for welfare of animals and people as well as the ethical expectations of society. A sound food supply should also be authentic, so that buyers, processors and consumers can be confident about the identity (species, stock) and origin (region as well as sourcing from wild-capture fisheries or aquaculture) Significant commercial risk: much focus on managing Even if legal standards are not set, adhered to or being developed to address welfare and ethical issues, certification bodies have addressed or raised awareness of these issues and increasingly influence the choices made by a proportion of buyers and consumers

16. UK Food Security Challenges (1) Will UK consumption of aquatic protein will always be sustained by imports? UK is a net importer of seafood (700kt, £2.2bn pa-1) Shrimp are most valuable import (>£0.5bn pa-1) and rising

17. UK Food Security Challenges (1) Origins of EU seafood Swartz et al. 2010

18. UK Food Security Challenges (2) What is the optimal balance between food production and environmental protection? Proposed production of 10kt (half of current UK production) of mussels in a 15km2 farm array. Spare or share approach?

19. UK Food Security Challenges (3) Is there an optimal balance between fisheries production, aquaculture production and imports in the UK? Coastal infrastructures based on legacy fishing industries may be well suited for development of mariculture, multiple inputs may increase viability of processing and infrastructure provision

20. UK Food Security Challenges (4) How will emerging technologies influence production, supply chains and demand? Nutritional benefits of consuming aquatic protein may be achieved from other sources

21. UK Food Security Challenges (5) Scotland - increase finfish from 164kt to 210kt and shellfish from 6.5kt to 13kt by 2020 Wales – increase finfish from 761 tonnes to 2kt and shellfish from 8.5kt to 18kt by 2020 England – no set target UK total - 27% more finfish/66% more shellfish by 2020 How will the interplay between policy making and consumer demand influence decision making on the future of aquatic food? ‘Aquaculture policy in the UK is a devolved matter, with the separate administrations of Wales, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland responsible for its collective oversight’ 180kt, £650m pa-1

22. With thanks to: Grant Stentiford, Ana Leocadio, Ana Ribeiro Santos, Birgit Oidtmann, Bryony Townhill, Carl O'Brien, David Verner-Jeffreys, Ed Peeler, Fiona Clyne, Ioanna Katsiadaki, Janette Lee, John Pinnegar, Julian Metcalfe, Keith Jeffery, Nathan Edmonds, Neil Auchterlonie, Nick Taylor, Paulette Posen, Robert Thorpe, Stuart Hetherington, Stephen Dye, Stephen Mangi, Suzanne Ware, Tim Ellis, Tom Catchpole and all other contributors to the ‘Aquatic Food Security’ Evidence Group at Cefas

23. Further information on this analysis: