The

role of the fish sector in nutrition

The fish sector contributes to providing food for local consumption by reducing the volume of imports of red and white meat, as 70% of the volume of production is consumed annually from fresh and canned fish, which led to an increase in per capita consumption to 8 kg annually.

Fish is considered one of the important nutrients for all the world’s population, despite the great geographical variation. Fish and fish products are an important and high-quality source of proteins. The proportion of proteins in fish is approximately 5-15% higher than in vegetable sources. Fish contains many essential amino acids for human health, such as lysine and methionine. Many fish, especially fatty fish, are a source of long-chain or mega-3 fatty acids, which contribute to the development of nerves and brain in the fetus and ensure mental and visual development, especially during the first thousand days of a child’s life.

Fish also provides essential minerals for building the body such as calcium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, selenium and iodine, as well as vitamins A, D, and B, which help reduce the risk of malnutrition and non-communicable diseases.

The strategic objectives and activities of the fish sector plan aimed at raising the level of nutritio

  1. Adopting sensitive feeding programs (sensitization) in the fish sector
  2. Raise public awareness of the importance of consuming marine life as food that contributes to reducing malnutrition
  3. Supporting the fish distribution system at the national level while maintaining its quality standards
  4. Enhancing the livelihoods of coastal communities
  5. Enhancing the role of fisheries research aimed at preserving the sustainability of fish stocks as sustainable food for the population
  6. Developing the fish farming sector in order to enhance fish production

Fisheries plan within the framework of the multisectoral plan to raise the level of nutrition in Yemen

Fish and marine life contain a high percentage of proteins and micronutrients that help improve nutrition, especially among women and children, and within the framework of the multisectoral nutrition plan aimed at raising the level of nutrition in Yemen, which is adopted by the Secretariat for Raising the Level of Nutrition (SUN Yemen).

The fish sector sought to prepare an integrated vision aimed at enhancing the nutritional aspect through a package of studied interventions and activities, which were supervised by local and international experts in the field of nutrition, and aimed in their entirety to:

Purpose:

Increasing the annual per capita consumption of marine products by increasing the amount of fish production and facilitating physical and physical access to fish foods.