But informed discussion about the application of genetic engineering to fisheries the world's primary source of animal protein was conspicuously lacking. This sudden interest in fisheries reflects technical advances made over the last ten years in biogenic fisheries research. With the increasing commercial potential of aquaculture come environmental perils which have to be seen in a wider context. The importance of fisheries as a source of food and livelihood and the implications of current fisheries practices are shaping, and are in turn being shaped by, new developments in biogenic fish research. Fisheries have provided livelihoods and food supplies to coastal communities for millennia.
Fish provide the world's only major food source harvested from the wild.
They are dependent on the naturally renewable aquatic biodiversity found in the world's oceans and inland water resources. As fishing and fish production techniques become more intensive, this biodiversity is being rapidly eroded through habitat destruction, overfishing and the introduction of exotic species, threatening food security. Currently, fish provide the fifth largest food resource, and the world's primary source of protein. An estimated total of between 150 and 200 million people worldwide are dependent for all or part of their livelihood on artisanal fisheries. Their contribution to local food security is important, particularly in isolated coastal communities.