Review Article: The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on aquatic food production: A review

Abstract

The novel pandemic disease has been evaluated as a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to its rapid spread worldwide. In many countries, the established restrictive measures on the movement and travel have had adverse economic outcomes, including a substantial drop in both jobs and salaries, in these communities. The economic consequences of the COVID-19 have severely affected the aquatic food supply chain, i.e. the fishers, aquaculture farmers, processing, and marketing sector due to the decrease in consumer purchasing power. There is increasing evidence that the farmers are not able to sell their products which lead to the live fish stocks increasing and therefore higher costs for feeding. Correspondence F. Hassantabar, Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Animal Science and Fisheries, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran (e-mail: f.hassantabar66@gmail.com). In contrast, a fall in demand and selling price of aquatic food has resulted in a decline in fishing activities, which may give wild fish stocks a chance to recover. This review aims to summarize the impacts of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on aquatic food production.