“Blue Food” helps build a healthy, sustainable and equitable food system

The British journal Nature recently published several environmental science studies and established a global database of trace and macroelements of aquatic species. One of the studies showed that increasing the production of "blue foods" is expected to increase food consumption and improve diets - "blue foods" refer to plants, animals and algae in freshwater and marine environments. The paper is included in the "Blue Food Collection", which collects research papers, reviews and opinion articles published in Nature, Nature Food and Nature Communications, and provides insights into the contribution of aquatic foods to future food systems and the challenges that need to be overcome to achieve these contributions.

Aquatic foods have the potential to improve human nutrition and make food production more sustainable, but are often underrepresented in nutrition and environmental assessments of food systems. The latest Blue Food Assessment examines the role of aquatic foods in building healthy, sustainable and equitable food systems.

A team including scientists from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the United States described in Nature a global database of trace and macro-element compositions of 3,753 aquatic food species (including fish, crustaceans, and seaweed). By comparing them with foods from land sources, the analysis showed that the top seven animal-source foods with the richest nutritional content are all aquatic foods, including ocean fish (such as tuna and herring), shellfish, and salmonids (including salmon and trout). The team simulated the impact of an approximately 8% increase in global "blue food" production by 2030, and estimated that this may reduce the price of related foods by 26%, which is expected to improve the trace element intake of up to 166 million people.

The study found that some types of aquatic food are more nutritious than beef, lamb, goat, chicken or pork, based on average values ​​of various nutrients (omega-3, vitamins A and B12, calcium, iodine, iron, zinc). Models show that even with only a small increase in production, aquatic food may provide more calcium (8% increase; taking the median of each country), iron (+4%), omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA (+186%), zinc (+4%), vitamin B12 (+13%), but vitamin A is estimated to decrease by 1%. The study also shows that increased consumption of aquatic food benefits women almost three times more than men, which may point to a possible way to achieve nutritional equity.

In another paper, the American University team evaluated the environmental impact of "blue food" production. They analyzed 23 aquatic food species, which account for nearly three-quarters of global production, and used standard estimates for greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, freshwater and land use. The analysis found that farmed bivalves (such as clams and oysters) and seaweed performed best, producing lower emissions than their fished counterparts. The results of the study will help mitigate environmental impacts, promote data-poor environmental assessments, and provide guidance for achieving sustainable diets.