Are Food System and Climate Policies Leaving Seafood Behind?

While many governments and government policies generally recognize the link between aquatic foods and food security, most governance instruments still lack strong integration.

A review from 2021 of national food policies found that 65 percent made some connection, mainly by promoting fisheries and aquaculture for food availability, but only 12 percent showed a high political commitment to blue foods. Continuing to exclude wild-caught and farmed blue foods will lead to diets that are higher in carbon, less nutritious, and have negative impacts on coastal livelihoods. This also perpetuates a fragmented view of food policy and governance that thinks protein on land is good but protein in the sea is out of sight, out of mind.

In climate policy, National Determined Contributions (NDCs) are government or country-level plans that articulate how a nation intends to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement. In its preliminary analysis of 2025 NDCs submitted ahead of COP30, the World Resources Institute found that only 39 updated NDCs to date include ocean-based adaptation actions in the fisheries and aquaculture subsector, with more submissions expected as the third NDC cycle continues.

Global food policy discussions are overlooking a key opportunity to address climate and food system challenges that is already available – seafood or blue foods. These are foods that are nutrient-dense, often have lower emissions than terrestrial proteins, and support hundreds of millions of jobs, particularly in areas where there are few other opportunities. Yet, currently, seafood and blue foods are missing from discussions about the future of food and the climate.

This webinar will look at how policy being developed in the food and climate policy is undervaluing seafoods role and how the seafood industry can work to ensure blue foods are promoted as the healthy and climate-friendly protein ideal for achieving food system and policy goals.

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