The FAO recently released its State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report, a biennial collection of data that policymakers, scientists and civil society groups rely on.Global fisheries and aquaculture production, including algae as well as animal products, reached a record 235 million metric tons in 2024, with farmed aquatic animal production surpassing 100 million metric tons annually for the first time. This brings the total aquatic animal product trade close to that of terrestrial meat.The report, which covers around 70% of global fisheries, found that sustainably fished stocks fell by 2.1% to a new low of 62.4%.The report projects continued growth in aquatic animal production from both fisheries and aquaculture, but warns that achieving it sustainably and equitably will require greater investment, effective governance and continued innovation.
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.
