IFFO highlights biodiversity risks in new food systems research.
IFFO, The Marine Ingredients Organisation, has commented on the publication of a new peer-reviewed paper examining the role of seafood in global food security and biodiversity protection.
The open-access paper, led by Duncan Leadbitter of the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security at the University of Wollongong, was published in Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture. The study was developed following a workshop funded by IFFO and brings together a group of international scientists to assess the impacts of global food production systems.
According to IFFO, the paper argues that responsibly managed capture fisheries play a critical role in sustainable food systems, particularly when compared with land-based animal protein production. The authors highlight land use change as the dominant driver of global biodiversity loss, noting that around 83% of agricultural expansion during the 1980s and 1990s replaced tropical forests.
The research suggests that replacing animal protein sourced from marine capture fisheries with agricultural alternatives would likely increase pressure on biodiversity, given the limited scope to expand food production on land without removing native vegetation. The paper also emphasises the importance of integrated food systems, warning that narrowly focused environmental assessments risk shifting impacts from oceans to terrestrial ecosystems rather than reducing them overall.
IFFO technical director Brett Glencross said the findings underline the need for more robust tools to compare biodiversity impacts across food systems and geographies. He added that IFFO has initiated a pilot project aimed at developing biodiversity indicators to support more objective decision-making.
The authors estimate that replacing all animal protein from marine fisheries could require almost 5 million square kilometres of additional land, while removing fish ingredients entirely from aquaculture feeds could necessitate more than 47,000 square kilometres of new agricultural land. The paper argues that well-managed fisheries avoid the large-scale ecosystem conversion associated with agriculture and continue to improve through advances in fisheries management.
The full article is available via Taylor & Francis Online.