About 180 billion pounds (about 81 billion kg) of wild fish are caught per year. That's equivalent to the weight of the entire population of China. The most commonly fished species include cod, salmon, tuna and swordfish — all of which are in danger of being over-fished.
More facts about aquaculture:
- Asia accounts for about two-thirds of the world's fish consumption. China alone consumes more than 72 billion pounds (about 32 billion kg) of fish per year, which is about 60 pounds (27 kg) of fish per person per year. By contrast, America consumes about 5 billion pounds (about 2.3 billion kg) of fish per year.
- In Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Ghana, fish accounts for as much as half of the protein in the average person's diet.
- During the past 50 years, there has been a 90 percent reduction in the populations of several large species of fish, including tuna, swordfish and sharks.