ABSTRACT
The contribution of fisheries to the alleviation of malnutrition can be enhanced through appropriate activities in the production, processing, and consumption phases of fisheries systems. Fisheries development for the higher end of the market can even reduce the supplies available to the poor because productive resources are reallocated away from production for the poor. Many poor people have direct access to fish on coasts and in lakes, rivers, and irrigation ditches, and by fishing they can supplement their own and their families’ diets. Much of the excitement about modern aquaculture in the 1960s and 1970s was based on the idea that low-cost cultured fish or shellfish could make a significant contribution to alleviating malnutrition. Industrialized fisheries may sometimes reduce the fish supplies available to local people in less developed countries because of their export orientation, but at times they may improve local supplies.
