Aquatic animal and terrestrial meat trades now almost on par, FAO report finds

Rapid aquaculture growth has pushed farmed aquatic animal production to more than 100 million metric tons per year for the first time ever, boosting the trade value of all aquatic animal products almost to parity with the trade value of land-produced meat.

That’s according to the latest “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture” (SOFIA) report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The 2026 installment of the report, a biennial collection of data that outlines FAO’s vision for the fishing and aquaculture sectors, was released June 16 at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya.

“The [aquaculture] sector is evolving very rapidly,” Manuel Barange, director of the FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, told Mongabay. “It’s now achieving levels that fisheries never did. And that is positive because there’s no doubt about it that we’re going to be 10 billion in just a couple or three decades. And everyone has a right to food.”

Connecting science and policy

SOFIA is “one of the most authoritative reports we have,” Paul Orina, director general of the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, said at a Mombasa press conference to launch the report. Its value lies in how it “connects science with policy,” he said.

The FAO has been giving policymakers, scientists and civil society a deep dive into the global fisheries and aquaculture sectors since 1995, with SOFIA 2026 bringing in data through 2024. The flagship report reviews FAO and broader U.N. statistics, including those FAO has been collecting on around 500 fish stocks globally since 1974.

It provides data, analysis and projections that inform decision-making internationally, and documents measurable progress of FAO’s Blue Transformation. This road map for meeting the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14), Life Below Water, by 2030, was launched in 2021. It aims to improve the social, economic and environmental sustainability of aquatic foods, and to feed more people more equitably despite growing challenges from climate change, pollution and biodiversity degradation.

Key takeaways from SOFIA 2026

Total global fisheries and aquaculture production, including algae as well as animal products, hit a record-breaking 235 million metric tons in 2024, the report said. Aquatic food systems employ a steady 65 million people directly, and more than 40% of humans rely on aquatic foods for at least 20% of their protein intake, according to SOFIA 2026.

Average global availability of aquatic foods for human consumption now stands at more than 21 kilograms (46 pounds) a year per person, up from 20.7 kg (45.6 lbs) in the previous SOFIA, published in 2024. But this ranges from just 9.1 kg (20 lbs) in Africa to 26.3 kg (58 lbs) in Asia. The report calls for targeted policies to ensure growth translates into more equitable access and improved food security.

The global trade value of farmed and fished finfish, crustaceans and mollusks reached $183.1 billion, according to the report. This is only about 1% less than the $185.3 billion trade in beef, pork and chicken, it noted.

The report valued aquaculture at $391 billion at farm gate (straight from producers), up more than 8% on the valuation given in the previous SOFIA. Asia continues to dominate the aquaculture sector, producing around 89% of all farmed aquatic animals and 92% of total aquaculture products, but 47 countries now produce more through aquaculture than through capture, or wild, fisheries.

Wild-caught fish tipped the scale at a stable 92 million metric tons in 2024, the report said, which is within the 86 to 94 million metric ton range it’s held since the late 1980s.

Previous SOFIAs have included data for around 500 fish stocks. SOFIA 2026 drew on data from 2,665 fish stocks, covering an estimated 70% of the global total. The dramatic rise is mostly the result of disaggregation of stocks that were formerly assessed as single units, Barange said.

For instance, there are 12 Mediterranean, or European, hake (Merluccius merluccius) stocks that previously were aggregated and counted as one, but are now assessed separately. Now, data on each stock is published individually, to give countries information relevant to their own sustainable policy development.

Work needed to reach sustainable management

The share of sustainably fished stocks declined to 62.4%, a 2.1% reduction since the 2024 SOFIA report that continued a long-term trend. The remaining 37.6% of stocks are “overfished.”

“There are still too many fisheries around the world that are not sustainably exploited,” Barange said. “It’s very easy to just blame illegal fishing, as many people do, and illegal fishing is a problem. But actually, the biggest problem is insufficient management of fisheries.”

FAO estimated that, by volume, 72.6% of the capture fisheries landings assessed in 2023 were from “sustainably fished stocks.” SOFIA 2026 attributed this to more effective management of larger, more productive stocks than of low-value stocks. High-value, high-yield stocks like those of various tuna species attract investment in management, including stock assessment, because they are lucrative, Barange said. While low-value stocks, such as Senegalese sardinella (genus Sardinella), would be “financially crippling” to set up management for.

“It’s clear that sustainable, science-based management of fisheries works,” Laura McDearis, U.S. program director of the Marine Stewardship Council, a U.K.-based seafood certification nonprofit, told Mongabay in an emailed statement. This “cause for hope” highlighted by SOFIA 2026 is tempered by the report’s “stark warning” that overfishing remains a major global issue, she added.

There is currently no agreed index for measuring the ecological sustainability of aquaculture. But it, too, needs to be managed sustainably, Barange said, highlighting FAO’s Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture.

Inland aquaculture is dominated by finfish at almost 89%, while mollusks make up the biggest share of marine aquaculture at almost 53%, the report found.

Many farmed aquatic animals, such as salmon and shrimp, are typically fed products that include wild-caught fish, which drives overfishing, damaging biodiversity and the livelihoods of small-scale fishers. The waste from fish farms can also pollute waterways, and overcrowding promotes disease that can devastate local aquatic life. Farming mollusks is usually less damaging. Done right, it can even improve water quality, according to a 2026 Fisheries Research study.

Aquaculture and fisheries must both be managed responsibly to maintain the health of the ecosystems people rely on for the benefits of aquatic products. “But the continued success of blue foods needs more than this,” Chris Ninnes, CEO of the Netherlands-based Aquaculture Stewardship Council, which oversees independent certification of farmed seafood products that pass environmental, social and labor standards, told Mongabay. SOFIA 2026 puts improved and equitable livelihoods at the heart of a successful blue transition, he noted, but there must be recognition that fishers and farmers “are the pathway to success” to sustainably produce aquatic food.

Future projections

SOFIA 2026 forecasted that aquatic animal production from fisheries and aquaculture will grow to 214 million metric tons by 2034, but suggested the growth rate will likely slow between now and then. Aquaculture will continue to drive growth, especially in Africa, while fisheries are likely to rebound slightly to 95 million metric tons.

Sustainable development of both sectors is achievable, the report said. But it warned that without sufficient investment, effective governance and innovation “growth will outpace equity and sustainability.”

Climate change will likely cause some fish stocks to move further toward the poles, the report noted, which may redistribute fishing opportunities. SOFIA 2026 called for integrated fisheries management adaptation measures to mitigate impacts on regions most likely to suffer reduced stocks.

“Perhaps the biggest message in this report is that there are solutions out there that are working. It’s not just about problems,” Barange said.

Banner Image: Workers catch fish in an aquaculture enclosure at a Hazipur, Bangladesh, hatchery in 2012. Image by Finn Thilsted/WorldFish via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). 

For the first time ever, we’re farming more seafood than we’re catching: FAO

Citation:
Henríquez-Antipa, L., Cook., S., Leal, P., Saavedra, S., Cárcamo, F., Galleguillos, F., & Jeffs, A. (2026). Ecological effects and benefits of mussel aquaculture for habitat enhancement and restoration practices in southern Chile. Fisheries Research, 300, 107785. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2026.107785

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Cite this article

Elizabeth Fitt (2026). Aquatic animal and terrestrial meat trades now almost on par, FAO report finds. Mongabay Conservation news. DOI: https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322025

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Autumn Spanne Contributing Editor – Oceans Desk

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