A/HRC/40/56 II. State of fisheries A. Marine and inland capture fisheries 5. Global fish consumption per capita has doubled since the 1960s, 5 outpacing population growth by half.6 Current estimates indicate that fish provides 3.2 billion people with almost 20 per cent of their average intake in animal protein. 7 This percentage is even higher in less developed countries and in small island developing States where fish is typically more affordable than other animal-source foods. 8 Populations in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kiribati, Maldives, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands and Sri Lanka, for example, obtain more than half of their animal protein from fish. 9 Fish also contain essential micronutrients, vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids, which are necessary to improve malnutrition and reduce vulnerability to non-communicable diseases.10 6. Although inland capture fisheries play a smaller role in contributing to the global food supply, they are critically important to local food security and poverty alleviation in many developing countries. Inland capture fisheries are often located in remote rural areas where communities are highly dependent upon natural resources for their livelihoods. 11 Countries that are landlocked or otherwise lack access to marine resources may turn to inland fisheries for protein and micronutrients. Such is the case for several African countries including the Central African Republic, Chad, Malawi, Mali, Uganda and Zambia.12 7. Africa contributes approximately 25 per cent of inland catches, second only to Asia, which provides more than half of the global inland fishery catch, 13 with China alone accounting for 20 per cent.14 Asia has an abundance of wetlands, rice fields and other inland ecosystems conducive for fish production. The per capita contribution of Africa is far higher than that of Asia, however, as Africa does not have a major aquaculture industry and relies more heavily on its inland capture operations for food and employment. 15 8. Although pivotal, the majority of inland fisheries are small in scale, and thus their contribution to the greater fisheries sector often goes unrecognized. Due to the lack of sector-specific information and data, small-scale fisheries are less visible, and their importance is overlooked, especially in developing countries. However, fishing in nearshore waters as a source of food and employment can provide major social, economic and ecological benefits for coastal communities. Small-scale fisheries are thus integral to food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable development, consistent with Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2 and 14, as well as to the greater realization of economic, social and cultural rights. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018: Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (Rome, 2018), p. 113. FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2016: Contributing to Food Security and Nutrition for All (Rome, 2016), p. 2. World Bank, “Oceans, fisheries and coastal economies”, 25 September 2018. Laurenne Schiller and others, “High seas fisheries play a negligible role in addressing global food security”, Science Advances, vol. 4, No. 8 (August 2018). FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018, p. 70. Ibid. FAO, Review of the state of world fishery resources: inland fisheries (Rome, 2018), p. 201. Ibid. FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018, p. 5. FAO, Review of the state of the world fishery resources, p. 2. Ibid. 3