The future is Blue

Seafood provides us with a nutrient-dense and climate-friendly protein food choice. Over 2000 different species of blue foods offer a wide range of essential nutrients.

3 billion people worldwide rely on seafood as their main source of protein.

Blue foods are nutritious and diverse foods derived from aquatic environments, including streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, seas, and oceans. The various species caught and cultured in these environments provide the primary source of protein for 3 billion people worldwide. Recent credible scientific initiatives have highlighted the critical importance of Blue Foods for global food security and health.

The Blue Food Assessment includes over 100 scientists from more than 25 institutions, including the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stanford University's Centre for Ocean Solutions and EAT-Lancet. This interdisciplinary team supports decision-makers in evaluating opportunities, tradeoffs and implementing solutions to build healthy, equitable and sustainable food systems.

Following the Blue Food Assessment, the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit considered the role of blue foods in helping to transform the global food system for the first time.

High-value protein from aquaculture

Aquaculture is one of the most efficient converters of feed into high-quality food. The nutritional composition of a seafood product depends primarily on what they eat. Fed aquaculture has the advantage that diets can be controlled and optimised. This leads to optimal yields and quality when farmed correctly and responsibly.

Protein from seafood is readily digestible, has an optimal amino acid profile, and contains essential micronutrients, such as vitamin D, selenium and iodine. In addition, fatty fish is rich in long-chained unsaturated fatty acids, which are indirectly involved in regulating inflammatory responses and blood pressure.

Wild fish harvests have stagnated, and many stocks are fully or overexploited. Therefore, increasing the global seafood supply through aquaculture is essential to provide healthy and sustainable protein for a growing population.