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Are more aquatic animals caught or farmed?
Farmed production exceeded capture-fishery production in 2024. FAO reports 103 million tonnes of aquatic animals from aquaculture, versus about 92 million tonnes from capture fisheries. Aquaculture accounted for 53 percent of total aquatic-animal production that year and more than 59 percent of aquatic-animal food output. FAO’s 2026 summary of global fisheries and aquaculture provides these figures.
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These are production-volume statistics, not a measure of sustainability or a count of individual fish. The category is aquatic animals, which includes more than finfish; algae are reported separately. The production comparison refers to 2024.
What does the sustainability figure say?
FAO reports that 72.6 percent of all capture-fishery landings in 2023 originated from biologically sustainable stocks. This is a landing-volume-weighted statistic about capture fisheries: it is not the share of fish stocks that were sustainable, nor a comparison with farmed production.
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The distinction matters. A stock-count statistic gives each monitored stock a place in the count, while a landings statistic reflects the volume caught. FAO’s 2024 summary, for example, reported that 62.3 percent of monitored marine stocks were fished within biologically sustainable levels in 2021; when weighted by production, 76.9 percent of landings from stocks monitored by FAO that year came from biologically sustainable stocks. Those figures describe different measures and an earlier reference year. FAO’s 2024 report summary explains the 2021 indicators.
Does the evidence show whether farmed or caught seafood is more sustainable?
No apples-to-apples global verdict follows from the available figures. The 72.6 percent statistic measures the share of capture-fishery landings from biologically sustainable stocks in 2023. The cited FAO summary does not provide a corresponding global share or tonnage of farmed aquatic animals that meets a comparable sustainability definition.
FAO describes sustainability and equity as ongoing challenges. It notes that wild fisheries have largely stabilized while aquaculture has continued to grow, and points to measures such as science-based governance and spatial planning for aquaculture, and stronger governance, data, monitoring and surveillance for capture fisheries. These points underscore why neither “farmed” nor “wild-caught” is a sustainability guarantee; outcomes depend on the production method and its management.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read caught-versus-farmed claims
When a seafood claim says one method is more sustainable, check what it measures before comparing it with another claim:
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- Production volume: distinguish tonnes produced from the share that meets a stated sustainability standard.
- Category: check whether the figure covers aquatic animals, finfish specifically, or algae.
- Metric: separate the number of stocks assessed from the volume of landings attributed to those stocks.
- Year and scope: note the reference year and whether the statistic applies to a region, fishery, stock, farm type or global total.
For context, FAO’s 2024 summary reported 94.4 million tonnes of farmed aquatic animals and 92.3 million tonnes from capture fisheries in 2022; aquaculture supplied 51 percent of total aquatic-animal production that year. It also reported that 89 percent of aquatic-animal production in 2022 was used for direct human consumption. The newer 2024 production figures show aquaculture’s lead widening, but neither set of production totals settles the comparative sustainability question.
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