Description After rice, forest products, milk, and wheat, fish is the fifth most important agricultural product. It is, by far, the largest source of animal protein for humans, providing 25 percent of animal proteins for residents of developing countries and over 75 percent in countries like Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Malawi. Overall, fish comprises 7.5 percent of the world's total food production. The overwhelming majority of fish consumed comes from the sea. The remaining 17 million tons came from freshwater bodies like rivers, lakes, streams, and ponds, and from aquaculture projects.
Fishing is the last sector in which large-scale hunting for food is practiced.
Analyses of trends in volume of fish catches by type shows great shifts which are attributable to species depletion - hence, today, Norwegian fishing boats, for example, are harvesting cod instead of the herring which they netted in the North Atlantic up until the 1960s. In 1989, fish production peaked at 100 million tons globally. Of this tonnage, roughly 80 percent was captured fish and the remainder produced through aquaculture techniques. Since that peak, the production level has remained stable but the ratio of capture to aquaculture-derived fish has decreased slightly. The FAO estimates that there will be a shortfall of 25 million tons of fish already by the year 2000.