ABSTRACT
Fish and other living aquatic resources of inland water ecosystems provide important services that are seriously undervalued [well established]. Inland fisheries and aquaculture contribute about 25% to the world's production of fish. In addition, many important estuarine and coastal fisheries are strongly linked to the ecological processes that occur in freshwater systems [well established]. The value of freshwater production to human nutrition and incomes is much greater than gross national production figures suggest. The bulk of production is generated by small-scale activities, with exceedingly high levels of participation not only in catching and farming, but also in processing and marketing. Inland fisheries are often critical to local food security [well established].
