In collaboration with MarFishEco, Friends of Ocean Action and the World Resources Institute Investigating Global Aquatic Food Loss and Waste WHITE PAPER APRIL 2024 Images: Getty Images, Unsplash Contents Foreword 3 Executive summary 4 1 Aquatic food loss and waste: the challenge 5 2 Drivers of loss and waste along the value chain 7 2.1  Fisheries discards at sea 7 2.2  At-sea fish processing 9 2.3  Processing on land 11 2.4  Retail  11 2.5  Food service  12 2.6  Household consumption  12 3 Quantifying aquatic food loss and waste 13 3.1  Total quantities 13 3.2  Per species group 15 3.3  Per product type 17 3.4  Global hotspots 18 3.5  Intra-continental hotspots 19 4 Interventions for tackling aquatic food loss and waste 21 4.1  By-product use 22 4.2  Infrastructural improvements 22 4.3  Emerging technologies 22 4.4  Markets, trends and diversification 23 4.5  Investing in skills and knowledge 23 4.6  Industry collaboration 24 4.7  Policy and regulatory frameworks 24 5 Calls to action 25 5.1  Policy-makers 25 5.2  Industry 26 5.3  Civil society 26 Final remarks 27 Contributors 28 Endnotes 29 Disclaimer This document is published by the World Economic Forum as a contribution to a project, insight area or interaction. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are a result of a collaborative process facilitated and endorsed by the World Economic Forum but whose results do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum, nor the entirety of its Members, Partners or other stakeholders. © 2024 World Economic Forum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system. Investigating Global Aquatic Food Loss and Waste 2 April 2024 Investigating Global Aquatic Food Loss and Waste Foreword Alfredo Giron Head, Ocean Action Agenda, World Economic Forum Tom Pickerel Global Director, Ocean Program, World Resources Institute Aquatic food plays a critical role in global food and nutrition security, and loss and waste of this essential resource is a growing concern worldwide. Previous estimates indicate that one-third of global aquatic food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. However, these estimates are now assumed to be outdated and potentially inaccurate. This paper provides up-to-date estimates of global edible aquatic food loss and waste across the value chain, from production through to consumption. It offers a comprehensive breakdown across species groups, product types and bilateral international trade routes. This work delves into specific loss and waste challenges at each section of the value chain and emphasizes the critical need for targeted interventions that enhance long-term food system resilience. In addition to demonstrating the scale of aquatic food loss and waste, this work highlights key hotspots where significant loss and waste is occurring, and where focused investment in interventions would be most impactful. Additionally, numerous actionable strategies that have already been adopted are showcased, exemplifying successful solutions driven by technological innovation and multistakeholder collaboration. This paper comes at an important time. It contributes to the United Nations (UN) Ocean Decade’s ambition to use ocean science and knowledge generation to catalyse new opportunities for sustainable development. It responds directly to the Non-State Actors Call to Action for Transforming Food Systems for People, Nature, and Climate coming out of Conference of the Parties (COP28), and solutions presented in this paper provide tangible approaches to progress to Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, halving per capita global food loss and waste by 2030. This work actions the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Blue Transformation Roadmap, prioritizing efficient value chains that increase profitability and reduce food waste, and aligns closely with the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy’s priority action to minimize waste in aquatic food supply chains. Using the insights from the quantitative analysis, targeted calls to action for policy-makers, industry and civil society are outlined. We invite all stakeholders engaged in aquatic food value chains to use this paper as a sh