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 Although there are a variety of uses for fisheries resources, such as for recreational and medicinal use, by far the most common is for food. Fisheries resources are now producing a record quantity of food and other benefits for humanity. The proportion of global fish production used for direct human consumption rose during the 1990s from 71% in 1990 to 79% in 1998. Consumption of fresh fish grew significantly during the 1990s, complemented by a decline in demand for canned fish. Fish not used for direct human consumption is reduced to fishmeal and oil. |
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 Fishmealis used as feed, mainly for pigs and chickens, although carnivorous aquatic species such as salmon, shrimp and bream (less than 10% of world aquaculture production) also consume fishmeal. |
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| The total food supply available from fisheries in live weight terms is estimated to be about 16kg per year for each of the world's inhabitants. This figure has increased from about 7kg per capita in 1950 as production more than kept pace with population growth. These figures need to be viewed with some caution as they do not represent individual consumption, which can only accurately be assessed in countries where food consumption surveys have been carried out. |
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| Care needs to be given to the post-harvest handling, processing and transportation of fish in order to avoid spoilage, retain the nutritional value of the fish and avoid costly and debilitating effects of fish-borne illnesses. |
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