Fisheries at the Forefront: Ensuring Food Safety, Security, and Sustainability

As the world faces mounting challenges in feeding a growing population, the fisheries sector stands at a critical crossroads. The theme of ICFAS 2025 — “Fisheries at the Forefront: Ensuring Food Safety, Security, and Sustainability”— captures the urgent call to safeguard one of humanity’s most vital food sources while protecting the ecosystems that sustain it.

Fisheries are central to global food systems. They provide livelihoods to millions and supply essential nutrients to billions. Yet, overfishing, climate change, and pollution threaten marine and freshwater resources, putting food security and biodiversity at risk. Addressing these challenges requires innovation, collaboration, and strong science-based policies that balance productivity with conservation.

Ensuring food safety means maintaining the highest standards in handling, processing, and distribution — protecting consumers while enhancing market access. Promoting food security demands that we make fish and aquatic products accessible, affordable, and sustainably produced. Above all, pursuing sustainability ensures that today’s harvests do not compromise the needs of future generations.

At its heart, the ICFAS 2025 theme reminds us that fisheries are not merely an economic sector — they are a lifeline for communities, cultures, and the planet itself. By placing fisheries at the forefront of food system discussions, we move closer to a future where healthy oceans and thriving communities coexist, ensuring that the bounty of our waters continues to nourish life for generations to come.