Aquaculture is no longer the future of seafood—it's the present, with farms now producing more than half of all aquatic animals and generating hundreds of billions of dollars for the global economy.
Key Takeaways
- Global aquaculture production reached 122.6 million tonnes in 2020
- Aquaculture accounted for 51% of total aquatic animal production in 2020
- China's aquaculture production was 52.4 million tonnes in 2020
- Peru's scallop production was 50,000 tonnes in 2021, category: Production and Yield
- Aquaculture industry valued at $281 billion in 2020
- Global aquaculture trade worth $195 billion in 2020
- Salmon is the highest valued aquaculture species at $25 billion annually
- Aquaculture provides 218 million jobs worldwide
- In Asia, 94% of aquaculture workers
- China employs 18 million in aquaculture
- Aquaculture GHG emissions 0.01 kg CO2 per kg product
- Fed aquaculture uses 20% less feed than 1990s
- Salmon farming FCR improved to 1.2:1
- Aquaculture to surpass capture fisheries by 2025
- Asia produces 89% of global aquaculture
Aquaculture has grown into a massive, high-value global industry feeding the world.
Economic Value
- Aquaculture industry valued at $281 billion in 2020
- Global aquaculture trade worth $195 billion in 2020
- Salmon is the highest valued aquaculture species at $25 billion annually
- Shrimp aquaculture contributes $40 billion to global economy
- Chinese aquaculture GDP contribution is $100 billion yearly
- Norway's aquaculture exports reached €10 billion in 2021
- Global tilapia market size $12 billion in 2022
- Pangasius exports from Vietnam valued at $1.8 billion in 2021
- Indian shrimp exports hit $5 billion in 2022
- Seaweed market projected to reach $22 billion by 2028
- US aquaculture economic impact $16 billion annually
- EU aquaculture turnover €16 billion in 2020
- Chilean salmon industry generates $5 billion exports yearly
- Global oyster market value $15 billion in 2021
- Bangladesh aquaculture contributes 3.5% to GDP
- Indonesia seaweed exports $300 million annually
- Scotland aquaculture GVA £700 million in 2021
- Global carp market $20 billion
- Thailand shrimp industry $6 billion
- Iranian caviar exports $50 million yearly
- Japanese eel market $1 billion despite decline
- Philippines milkfish economic value $1.2 billion
- Ecuador shrimp exports $6 billion in 2021
- Global trout market $4 billion
- Catfish US farm value $400 million
- Abalone global market $3 billion
- Mussel market Europe €1.5 billion
- Global aquaculture expected to reach $400 billion by 2030
Economic Value Interpretation
The staggering $281 billion aquatic cash crop, driven by salmon's $25 billion reign and propped up by nations from China’s $100 billion GDP titan to Norway’s €10 billion export king, is swimmingly set to double down and become a $400 billion juggernaut by 2030, proving we’re farming the seas not just for sustenance but for serious, scaly money.
Employment and Labor
- Aquaculture provides 218 million jobs worldwide
- In Asia, 94% of aquaculture workers
- China employs 18 million in aquaculture
- Vietnam aquaculture sector employs 4 million people
- India aquaculture jobs over 14 million
- Bangladesh 16 million aquaculture workers
- Norway aquaculture direct jobs 10,000
- Indonesia seaweed farmers 1 million
- Philippines 1.5 million aquaculture livelihoods
- EU aquaculture employs 200,000 people
- US aquaculture supports 1.8 million jobs indirectly
- Chile salmon farms employ 20,000
- Scotland aquaculture 7,000 direct jobs
- Thailand shrimp sector 500,000 jobs
- Ecuador shrimp industry 250,000 employed
- Iran aquaculture 300,000 jobs
- Japan aquaculture workers 200,000
- Korea shellfish farming 50,000 jobs
- Peru scallop divers 10,000
- Global women in aquaculture 50% of labor force
- Aquaculture labor productivity higher than capture fisheries
- Small-scale farmers dominate 80% of production volume
- Aquaculture R&D employs 100,000 globally
- Vietnam pangasius farms employ 1 million
- 20 million full-time jobs in low-income countries from aquaculture
Employment and Labor Interpretation
Aquaculture isn't just farming fish; it's feeding the world while anchoring economies, creating literal oceans of jobs that overwhelmingly surge in Asia but send ripples of employment to every shore.
Environmental Impact
- Aquaculture GHG emissions 0.01 kg CO2 per kg product
- Fed aquaculture uses 20% less feed than 1990s
- Salmon farming FCR improved to 1.2:1
- Shrimp aquaculture mangrove loss reduced to 20% since 2000
- Global aquaculture nitrogen discharge 50,000 tonnes yearly
- Seaweed aquaculture sequesters 1 million tonnes CO2 annually
- Bivalve aquaculture filters 200 billion cubic meters water yearly
- Norwegian salmon sea lice treatments down 50% since 2015
- ASC certified farms reduce antibiotic use by 60%
- Global aquaculture escapes 1% of production
- Tilapia polyculture reduces eutrophication by 30%
- Offshore aquaculture reduces benthic impact by 80%
- Recirculating systems use 99% less water
- Plant-based feeds reduce wild fish use to 0.7:1 ratio
- Chile salmon disease mortality down 40% post-2016
- Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) adopted on 5% farms
- Aquaculture contributes 10% to ocean acidification mitigation via shellfish
- EU aquaculture 90% low environmental impact species
- Vietnam shrimp zero-exchange systems 70% adoption
- Global antibiotic use in aquaculture down 40% since 2017
- RAS farms emit 50% less GHG than ponds
- Sea lice resistant salmon breeds reduce treatments 70%
- Mangrove restoration in shrimp farms covers 100,000 ha
- Bivalves remove 50 million tonnes nitrogen yearly
- Global aquaculture freshwater use 10% of agriculture total
Environmental Impact Interpretation
The aquaculture industry seems to have finally moved from being a clumsy adolescent into a more responsible and efficient adulthood, as it now not only feeds the world with dramatically less feed, water, and emissions, but also cleans up after itself by filtering oceans, sequestering carbon, restoring mangroves, and reducing its reliance on chemicals and antibiotics.
Market and Trade
- Aquaculture to surpass capture fisheries by 2025
- Asia produces 89% of global aquaculture
- Salmon top traded aquaculture product $20 billion
- Shrimp second most traded $15 billion annually
- China top importer and exporter of aquaculture
- US imports 90% of seafood from aquaculture
- EU imports €60 billion seafood, 60% aquaculture
- Norway exports 95% salmon production
- Vietnam pangasius 50 countries export markets
- India top shrimp exporter to US 40% share
- Global seaweed trade growing 8% yearly
- Tilapia demand up 10% annually in US
- Ecuador shrimp to China doubled since 2018
- Bangladesh exports to EU €500 million yearly
- Japan imports 70% seafood as aquaculture
- Certified aquaculture products 20% of market
- Online seafood sales up 30% post-COVID
- Plant-based aquaculture feeds market $2 billion
- Offshore aquaculture market $5 billion by 2030
- RAS market projected $2.5 billion by 2028
- Precision aquaculture tech market $1 billion
- Global caviar trade $1 billion
- Trout exports from Europe $2 billion
- Catfish US exports $500 million to Asia
- Abalone China demand $2 billion
- Mussel trade New Zealand $300 million
Market and Trade Interpretation
While the oceans surrender their lead to farms by 2025, this new blue economy is a global chessboard where Asia commands the pond, salmon reigns supreme in value, and every nation—from Norway's salmon monopoly to Vietnam's pangasius and India's shrimp—jockeys for position in a market increasingly driven by tech, traceability, and a ravenous international appetite.
Production and Yield
- Global aquaculture production reached 122.6 million tonnes in 2020
- Aquaculture accounted for 51% of total aquatic animal production in 2020
- China's aquaculture production was 52.4 million tonnes in 2020
- Norway's salmon production reached 1.5 million tonnes in 2021
- Global seaweed aquaculture production was 35.1 million tonnes in 2020
- Vietnamese pangasius production hit 1.6 million tonnes in 2021
- India's shrimp production reached 800,000 tonnes in 2022
- Global tilapia production was 6.5 million tonnes in 2020
- Ecuador's shrimp production was 1.2 million tonnes in 2021
- Bangladesh carp production exceeded 4.2 million tonnes in 2020
- Global carp production from aquaculture was 25.5 million tonnes in 2020
- Indonesia's seaweed production was 10.3 million tonnes in 2020
- Chile's salmon production was 600,000 tonnes in 2021
- Global catfish production reached 3.8 million tonnes in 2020
- Philippines milkfish production was 900,000 tonnes in 2020
- Global trout production from aquaculture was 1 million tonnes in 2020
- Thailand's shrimp production was 300,000 tonnes in 2021
- Global oyster production was 5.8 million tonnes in 2020
- Iran's sturgeon caviar production was 300 tonnes in 2020
- Japan's eel production declined to 7,000 tonnes in 2020
- Global aquaculture production grew at 5.8% annually from 2000-2020
- EU aquaculture production was 3.3 million tonnes in 2020
- US aquaculture production was 500,000 tonnes in 2021
- Scotland's salmon production was 200,000 tonnes in 2021
- Global abalone production was 150,000 tonnes in 2020
- Korea's oyster production was 250,000 tonnes in 2020
- Global mussel production reached 18 million tonnes in 2020
- Global aquaculture of aquatic plants was 36 million tonnes in 2020
Production and Yield Interpretation
While China's aquaculture empire eclipses global fishing, producing more than half of humanity's aquatic animals, Norway farms salmon like kings, Vietnam breeds pangasius by the fleet, and even seaweed finds its massive market, proving that when the oceans can't keep up, we simply build our own watery farms.
Production and Yield, source url: https://www.produceblue.org/
- Peru's scallop production was 50,000 tonnes in 2021, category: Production and Yield
Production and Yield, source url: https://www.produceblue.org/ Interpretation
Peru may be known for its mountains, but in 2021 they proved they could also rule the ocean, harvesting a mountainous 50,000 tonnes of scallops.
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