The global supply of animal-source protein for 2018 of an estimated 90,916 Kt was derived from the following sources: milk, 30,889 Kt; chickens and other poultry, 17,169 Kt; pigs, 9,948 Kt; eggs, 8,686 Kt; captured aquatic animals, 7,135 Kt; farmed aquatic animals, 6,815 Kt; cattle, 6,796 Kt; sheep and goats, 2, 257 Kt; other land animals,1,221 Kt; Aquatic animals provided 13,950 Kt or 15.3% of global animal-source protein. Aquaculture was the source of 7.5% of the global animal-source protein, and it was responsible for 48.9% of the aquatic protein. Fisheries and aquaculture are an important segment of the global protein supply, but much more important in some countries than indicated by the global assessment.
Because production of protein by the capture fishery has most probably reached its limit, the expected increase in future demand for aquatic-animal protein will have to come from aquaculture. Aquaculture production (live weight basis) reached 82,087 Kt in 2018, but it required an estimated 12,500-14,344 Kt wild fish for fish meal and fish oil included in aquatic animal feeds. The limit on wild fish from the reduction fishery appears to be about 18,000-22,000 Kt. Aquaculture must reduce its dependence on wild fish or it may not be able to meet the future demand for aquatic protein.