From the most expensive fish in the world to the superpowers of Posidonia: a handful of figures to see the oceanic dimensions of the sea that feeds us

Puerto de la Cruz (Tenerife)The Romans said that the sea belonged to no one and that fish had no value, but this is not so. At least not in the world we have built. To see the oceanic dimensions of blue natural capital, let's take an X-ray based on figures provided by the scientific community at the Encuentro de los Mares conference held in Tenerife this week.

A very deep business

Seafood feeds 3.3 billion people. In fact, it is the main protein for one in six people worldwide. It is a growing industry worth 509 billion euros. If we consider all businesses linked to the sea, not just fishing, the ocean economy amounts to 1.9 trillion euros. According to data presented by Sandra Damijan, a professor at the School of Economics and Business at the University of Ljubljana, it is a business that is growing above the global economy. And it is estimated that the demand for seafood will have doubled by 2050.

A tuna of 2.8 million euros

The most expensive fish ever sold is a 243-kilogram bluefin tuna. It was sold on January 5th of this year at the Toyosu Market in Tokyo, Japan. The price was 510 million yen, which is about 2.8 million euros. Since the sea belongs to no one, and neither do fish, the contradiction is that this tuna, while in the sea, had a value of zero until someone found it, fished it, and killed it. The scientific community is looking for ways to calculate the value of this fish when it is alive. The tuna was bought by Kimura Miyoshi, owner of a sushi restaurant chain.

A false infinity

In 1883, the English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley stated that sea fish were inexhaustible. It is known as the myth of the Cornucopia, the horn of plenty. Time has disproven the scientist, but this idea has done a lot of harm, because an infinite good does not need to be protected, as it has zero value.

Less than half

Since 1970 we have lost 56% of blue natural capital. More than half of the abundance of marine animals and plants have disappeared. All this has happened in just one generation.

7,000 years ago in Portlligat

The CSIC has carried out a survey of 11 meters deep in a Posidonia meadow in Portlligat. There it has found the great job that Posidonia has done, since the eleven meters were deposits of organic matter produced by Posidonia itself over 7,000 years. This means that for 7 millennia the meadow has been removing carbon from the atmosphere and burying it under this thick layer as it slowly decomposes because there is no oxygen. According to Núria Marbà, a research scientist at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), one hectare of Posidonia captures seventeen times more carbon than one hectare of the Amazon.

Policies matter

According to Marbà, we have lost 30% of seagrass since World War II. The causes are diverse: deterioration of water quality, excess organic nutrients from urban development, coastal development, aquaculture, anchoring pressure, biological diseases, or climate change. In recent years, however, they are recovering, which coincides with the implementation of policies for improving water quality and conservation.

You eat aquaculture and you don't know it

More than half of the fish consumed worldwide is from aquaculture, not wild fish caught at sea. In 2010, the balance tipped, and it has been gaining ground ever since. For Lorella de la Cruz, Deputy Head of the Unit for Blue Economy Sectors, Aquaculture and Maritime Spatial Planning at the European Commission, it is the fastest-growing food sector in recent decades. Despite this, it has low social acceptance. It is clear that often we don't know the traceability of the fish we eat. Nor whether it has been fed with marine feed or with feed made from soy, as is the case with many farmed salmons.

22 kilos of fish per head

In a decade, fish consumption in Spain has fallen by 30%. Historically, it ranked second, after Japan, as the country with the highest consumption. It is now outside the top ten, and has been declining for twelve years. Currently, consumption is around 22.3 kilos per year per person. If we only look at Spanish households, according to Fedepesca data, the figure stands at eighteen kilos per capita and an average expenditure of 200 euros per year.

You look but don't touch

Some countries have begun to calculate the price of live fish as a recreational value. What they generate as a tourist attraction for those who want to see them while diving or snorkeling. A whale shark specimen would generate 1.7 million euros in Belize during its lifetime. On the other hand, if killed, the specimen does not reach 900 euros. In Malaysia, a turtle contributes almost 18 million euros alive and 7,000 dead. More is paid for the first specimen seen, and women are more favorable to making this type of expenditure. The rarer it is, the more is paid. As with hunting, but without killing them, of course.