12 Inland fisheries and aquaculture Freshwater fisheries Artist: Supriyo Das, India Coordinating lead author: Patrick Dugan Lead authors: Veliyil Vasu Sugunan, Robin L. Welcomme, Christophe Béné, Randall E. Brummett, and Malcolm C.M. Beveridge Contributing authors: Kofi Abban, Upali Amarasinghe, Angela Arthington, Marco Blixt, Sloans Chimatiro, Pradeep Katiha, Jackie King, Jeppe Kolding, Sophie Nguyen Khoa, and Jane Turpie Overview Fish and other living aquatic resources of inland water ecosystems provide important services that are seriously undervalued [well established]. Inland fisheries and aquaculture contribute about 25% to the world’s production of fish. In addition, many important estuarine and coastal fisheries are strongly linked to the ecological processes that occur in freshwater systems [well established]. e value of freshwater production to human nutrition and incomes is much greater than gross national production figures suggest. e bulk of pro- duction is generated by small-scale activities, with exceedingly high levels of participation not only in catching and farming, but also in processing and marketing. Inland fisheries are often critical to local food security [well established]. Most inland fisheries in the developing world are heavily exploited. While the fisheries are not necessarily overexploited in terms of gross production, individual species are often seriously overexploited. However, inland fisheries suffer greatly from environmental pres- sures, in particular deteriorating water quality and habitat [well established]. Many coastal and inshore marine systems are also affected by lower water quality and reduced availability of freshwater. Competition for water and aquatic habitat is the most critical challenge facing inland fisheries in many countries [well established]. e need for water to support fish and fisher- ies can conflict with the needs of other sectors, in particular agriculture, in both water quality and flow requirements for sustaining aquatic habitat. Decisions on water manage- ment frequently do not take into account the impact on fish and fisheries and on the rural IWMI Part 4 Ch8-16 final.indd 459 2/28/07 11:09:14 AM