Deep-sea fisheries as resilient bioeconomic systems for food and nutrition security and sustainable development

Abstract

The frequent deterioration of coastal fisheries has resulted in a need to nourish the world's rapidly expanding population, contributing to a substantial shift toward fishing in the mesopelagic zone. These areas contain a potentially huge amount of fish biomass. Considering that the global population will demand an increase of 60% in food production by 2050, it appears that exploiting the mesopelagic resources is simply a question of time. The present paper reviews the major risks and opportunities related to the exploitation of mesopelagic fisheries. Due to the significance of the uncertainties related to the stock of fish resources, environmental and biodiversity effects of the deep-sea fisheries, this inquiry advocates for the enhancement of sustainable small-sized deep-sea fishery practices on the one hand side and a global moratorium on large-scale mesopelagic fishing on the other hand. Deep seas could provide substantial resources for combating global food insecurity and facilitate a substantial improvement of the nutritional status in the regions plagued by a high incidence of infant mortality and disproportional poverty headcount ratios. For the sake of global and regional food and nutrition security, the exploitation of the biological resources of the mesopelagic zone is a legitimate target, whereby environmental sustainability is the major precondition for the rollout of these kinds of fishing activities.