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Abstract Purpose of ReviewAquatic foods are increasingly being recognized as a diverse, bioavailable source of nutrients, highlighting the importance of fisheries and aquaculture for human nutrition. However, studies focusing on the nutrient supply of aquatic foods often differ in the nutrients they examine, potentially biasing their contribution to nutrition security and leading to ineffective policies or management decisions. Recent FindingsWe create a decision framework to effectively select nutrients in aquatic food research based on three key domains: human physiological importance, nutritional needs of the target population (demand), and nutrient availability in aquatic foods compared to other accessible dietary sources (supply). We highlight 41 nutrients that are physiologically important, exemplify the importance of aquatic foods relative to other food groups in the food system in terms of concentration per 100 g and apparent consumption, and provide future research pathways that we consider of high importance for aquatic food nutrition. SummaryOverall, our study provides a framework to select focal nutrients in aquatic food research and ensures a methodical approach to quantifying the importance of aquatic foods for nutrition security and public health.
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An analytical approach to explore prospects and limits of nutrition-sensitive fisheries governance under climate change
Abstract Researchers and policymakers increasingly recognize the contribution of aquatic food systems, such as fisheries, to food security and nutrition. Yet governing fisheries for nutrition objectives is complicated by the multiple overlapping processes that shape availability and access to nutrients over time, including fishing sustainability, climate change, trade dynamics, and consumer preferences. Anticipating the impact of governance interventions to sustain or enhance nutritional benefits from fisheries entails accounting for these multiple interacting influences. We develop an analytical approach to link available data on aquatic foods production, nutrition, distribution, and potential climate impacts to evaluate the nutrition implications of fishery management and post-harvest allocation interventions. We demonstrate this approach using national and publicly available datasets for five case study countries: Peru, Chile, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, and Malawi. As examples, we evaluate the potential to enhance domestic supply of key nutrients to nutritionally-vulnerable populations by a) dynamically adjusting fishing effort in response to climate impacts on fish stocks, and b) retaining aquatic foods currently diverted via trade or foreign fishing. The results indicate substantial differences across countries in terms of anticipated climate change effects, with potential for substantially increased nutrition yield in Chile and Peru under adaptive management, vs. more modest yield increases in Indonesia. The impacts of post-harvest allocation policies related to foreign fishing, exports, fishing sector, and subnational trade also vary, with exports weighing heavily on nutrient availability in Sierra Leone. This methodological approach represents a step toward operationalizing calls to manage fisheries as part of national food and nutrient supplies, in light of climate change risks.
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- PAR ID:
- 10585917
- Publisher / Repository:
- IOP Publishing
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Environmental Research: Food Systems
- ISSN:
- 2976-601X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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