Fisheries and aquaculture celebrate their respective international days this month, two events that underline the relevance of these activities for human well-being and the health of the ocean. World Fisheries Day, promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has taken place every November 21 since 1998 with the purpose of recognizing the value of fishing activity, its role in food security and its contribution to the conservation of marine ecosystems. For its part, Aquaculture Day, which has been commemorated on November 30 since 2012, highlights the growing importance of this sector and its commitment to sustainability, innovation and socioeconomic development in coastal and rural areas.

Both activities are integrated into the blue economy, an approach that promotes the sustainable use of marine resources and recognises the ocean as a key driver of growth, employment and technological transformation.

According to data from the report The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (FAO, 2024), these two sectors provide the livelihood of some 600 million people directly or indirectly, generating 61.8 million jobs in the primary sector alone during 2022.

In global terms, FAO notes that global fisheries and aquaculture production in 2022 amounted to 223.2 million tonnes, 4.4% more than in 2020. In addition, aquaculture production that year exceeded capture fishing for the first time.

The same document also includes the importance of fisheries as a source of food and its potential to address food insecurity and malnutrition. Global consumption of aquatic animal feed reached 162.5 million tonnes in 2021. This figure has increased at almost twice the rate of the world population since 1961, with annual global per capita consumption rising from 9.1 kg in 1961 to 20.7 kg in 2022. Of the total production, 89% was used for direct human consumption.

In line with all of the above, the fishing sector contributes to the generation of employment and wealth, economic growth and food supply. However, it is necessary to ensure the sustainability of fishing activities, avoiding practices such as overfishing, pollution or illegal fishing, which have an impact on the degradation of habitats and threaten the conservation of marine ecosystems.

In this regard, Spain has the Sustainable Fisheries and Fisheries Research Law, approved in 2023. This regulation on fisheries management includes improvements such as the inclusion of the ecosystem approach and climate change mitigation and adaptation as general principles. It also includes the minimization of accidental catches of protected and endangered species, as well as management plans that serve as a tool for recognizing the singularities of the different fisheries under the same management and biodiversity conservation objectives.

In this context, the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) works for a bluer sea and a greener planet through collaboration between the scientific community, the fishing and aquaculture sector and entities of the social and environmental third sector. Through the Pleamar Programme, co-financed by the European Maritime Fund for Fisheries and Aquaculture (FEMPA), the Foundation supports 43 innovative and sustainable projects, with a grant of 14.5 million euros.

This line of work to promote the blue economy seeks to support the fishing and aquaculture sector in its commitment to increasingly sustainable activities, while reducing marine pollution, improving knowledge and the protection, conservation and restoration of the marine environment and promoting environmental awareness.

Within the same framework of the Pleamar Programme, in 2025 the Biodiversity Foundation has launched a second call to promote fisheries and aquaculture sustainability, endowed with 14.55 million euros. This call, whose resolution will be published in January 2026, seeks to promote projects aligned with policies on the protection of natural heritage and biodiversity, the marine environment, the fight against climate change, the prevention of marine pollution and the sustainability of fishing and aquaculture activities.

In addition, through projects such as LIFE INTEMARES and LIFE Ecorest , the active participation of the fishing sector in the different conservation actions of these European initiatives is encouraged. LIFE INTEMARES, coordinated by the Foundation, advances towards the effective management of the marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network in Spain, with science and the participation of all sectors, including fisheries, as basic tools for decision-making. For its part, the objective of LIFE Ecorest, which is coordinated by the ICM-CSIC and in which the Foundation participates as a partner, is to improve the conservation status of deep habitats and demonstrate the effectiveness of participatory management of the fisheries sector.