Reducing Postharvest Losses
In the OIC Member Countries
50
Table 16: World Fisheries and Aquaculture Production and Utilization
Production (Million tonnes) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Capture
Inland 10.1 10.3 10.5 11.3 11.1 11.6
Marine 80.7 79.9 79.6 77.8 8.26 79.7
Total capture 90.8 90.2 90.1 89.1 93.7 91.3
Aquaculture
Inland 29.9 32.4 34.3 36.8 38.7 41.9
Marine 20 20.5 21.4 22.3 23.3 24.7
Total Aquaculture 49.9 52.9 88.7 59.1 62 66.6
Total World Fisheries 140.7 143.1 145.8 148.2 155.7 157.9
Utilization
Human consumption 117.3 120.9 123.7 128.2 131.2 136.2
Non-food uses 23.4 22.2 22.1 20 24.5 21.7
Population (billions) 6.7 6.9 6.8 6.9 7 7.1
Per capital food fish supply (kg) 17.5 17.8 18.2 18.6 18.7 19.2
State of the World Fisheries, FAO, 2014
Fish and other aquatic products are produced, either through capture or through aquaculture.
Food production through capture has remained stable and is not expected to grow. However,
fish produced through aquaculture has grown rapidly over the last decades and will continue
to do so.
Postharvest Losses in Fish
Postharvest loss refers to the quantitative and qualitative reduction of produce occurring from
the time the fish is caught, through all stages of the supply chain that precede consumption.
The literature identifies four types of losses in the fish supply chain: physical, quality, market
force and nutritional (Cheke and Ward, 1998; Ward and Jeffries, 2000; Kumolu-Johnson and
Ndimele, 2011). These are generally defined as follows.
 Physical losses refer to the loss of fish that occurs because the produce is thrown away,
spoiled, or consumed by insects or animals during processing and storage. The loss can
happen at different stages, for example at the fishing stage due to discarding of unwanted
catch or bycatch (typically associated with shrimp trawling), or due to market mechanisms
(such as oversupply or lack of market). Physical loss is expressed both in terms of
decreases in weight and/or monetary value of the produce.
 Quality losses are expressed mostly in monetary terms as this represents the difference
between the potential values of fish at best quality and its current value after quality
degradation. Quality-deteriorated fish can be sold at a lower price as a downgraded
product in the same or in a different market for other purposes.
 Market force losses refer to different types of losses attributable to market behaviour or
management. These forces may lead to a decrease of the price below an optimum price or
a monetary loss because of high marketing and production costs. These losses are
considered pure market losses to distinguish them from the monetary losses due to