Aquatic food has a significant role to play in global nutrition and food security but is often ignored in that debate. Understanding its potential role is made difficult by the fact that aquatic food covers a large number of species which come from both capture fisheries and aquaculture and the marine and freshwater environments, including finfish, crustacea, molluscs, echinoderms, aquatic plants and other aquatic animals. Further complications arise from the fact that both supply and consumption vary significantly between countries. There are several criteria which need to be considered when discussing nutrition and food security. These include: how much food is produced, whether that production is sustainable, whether the production supports livelihoods, what the nutritional content of the food is and whether that food is safe. The authors conclude that there are many benefits to aquatic food under each of these criteria but there are also some hurdles which need to be overcome. Increased production to feed a growing global population relies on the growth of aquaculture. Challenges to such growth include the supply of raw ingredients for aquafeeds, losses due to disease outbreaks, being able to ensure high standards of food safety and overcoming environmental limitations to expansion. There are also problems with welfare conditions for people working in the supply chain which need to be addressed. Given the challenges to nutrition and food security which the world is currently facing, it is essential that aquatic food is brought into the debate and the significant benefits that aquatic foods provide are acknowledged and exploited. Aunque revisten importancia para la seguridad nutricional y alimentaria del mundo, los alimentos de origen acuático son a menudo los grandes olvidados de los debates en la materia. La dificultad de aprehender la posible función de estos alimentos estriba en el hecho de que abarcan un gran número de especies procedentes tanto de la pesca de captura como de la acuicultura y de medios tanto marinos como de agua dulce: peces, crustáceos, moluscos, equinodermos y otros animales acuáticos, así como también plantas acuáticas. La cuestión resulta tanto más compleja cuanto que el suministro y el consumo difieren sensiblemente de un país a otro. Existen varios criterios que conviene tener en cuenta al reflexionar sobre cuestiones de seguridad nutricional y alimentaria, entre ellos los siguientes: qué cantidad de alimento se produce; el carácter sostenible o insostenible de la producción; el hecho de que la producción forme parte o no de los medios de subsistencia; el contenido nutricional de los alimentos; o el nivel de inocuidad que estos ofrecen. Los autores llegan a la conclusión de que, a la luz de cada uno de estos criterios, los alimentos acuáticos aportan muchos beneficios, pero también presentan una serie de problemas que es preciso resolver. El logro de una mayor producción destinada a alimentar a la creciente población mundial reposa en el crecimiento de la acuicultura, crecimiento que está sujeto a limitaciones como el aprovisionamiento en ingredientes para los piensos destinados a animales acuáticos, las pérdidas causadas por brotes infecciosos, el cumplimiento de criterios estrictos de inocuidad de los alimentos o la posibilidad, o no, de superar los límites que el medio ambiente impone a la expansión de la actividad. También hay problemas ligados a las condiciones de bienestar de los trabajadores de la cadena de suministro que es preciso abordar. En vista de los problemas de seguridad nutricional y alimentaria a los que ahora mismo hace frente el mundo, es indispensable integrar los alimentos acuáticos en los procesos de debate y reflexión y saber reconocer y aprovechar los importantes beneficios que traen consigo. Les denrées alimentaires d’origine aquatique contribuent de manière significative à la sécurité nutritionnelle et alimentaire mondiale ; or, elles sont souvent ignorées dans les discussions sur le sujet. Il est d’autant plus difficile de se faire une idée exacte de la contribution potentielle des aliments d’origine aquatique que ceuxci recouvrent un grand nombre d’espèces provenant aussi bien des pêches de capture que de l’aquaculture et issues de milieux tant marins que d’eau douce, comme les poissons, les crustacés, les mollusques, les échinodermes, mais aussi la flore aquatique et bien d’autres espèces d’animaux aquatiques. À ces difficultés s’ajoutent celles liées aux variations importantes de l’offre et de la consommation de ces denrées suivant les pays. Un certain nombre de critères sont à examiner lorsqu’on traite des questions de sécurité nutritionnelle et alimentaire. Il convient notamment d’examiner les quantités d’aliments produites, le caractère durable ou non de chaque production, son rôle dans l’économie de subsistance, le contenu nutritionnel des aliments et leur innocuité. Les auteurs concluent que si les aliments d’origine aquatique présentent nombre d’avantages au regard de chacun de ces critères, des obstacles subsistent auxquels il convient de remédier. Les possibilités de produire davantage d’aliments afin de nourrir une population mondiale toujours plus nombreuse sont tributaires de la croissance de l’aquaculture. Cette croissance est limitée par divers facteurs, notamment la disponibilité des matières premières utilisées pour l’alimentation des espèces aquatiques, les pertes dues aux maladies, la nécessité de garantir un niveau élevé de sécurité sanitaire des...

The global demand for providing nutritious, sustainable, and safe diets for a 10 billion population by 2050 while preserving affordability, reducing environmental impacts, and adapting to climate change will require accelerating the transition to sustainable agri‐food systems. A plausible way to help tackle these challenges is by developing new plant varieties that have improved crop yield, plant nutritional quality, and sustainability (or resilience) traits. However, stakeholders, consumers, and citizens' concerns and appreciation of future‐proofing crops and the acceptability of new plant breeding strategies are not well‐established. These groups are actors in the agri‐food systems, and their views, values, needs, and expectations are crucial in helping to co‐design fair, ethical, acceptable, sustainable, and socially desirable policies on new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) and the transition to sustainable agri‐food systems. In this study, we engaged with consumer experts and societal stakeholders to consider their perceptions, expectations, and acceptability of improving crops and NPBTs for future‐proofing the agri‐food systems. Our analysis points to a need for governments to take a proactive role in regulating NPBTs, ensure openness and transparency in breeding new crop varieties, and inform consumers about the effects of these breeding programmes and the risks and benefits of the new crop varieties developed. Consumer experts and societal stakeholders considered these strategies necessary to instil confidence in society about NPBTs and accelerate the transition to sustainable agri‐food systems.

Restrictions on social interaction and travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic have affected how researchers approach fieldwork and data collection. Whilst online focus groups have received attention since the 2000s as a method for qualitative data collection, relatively little of the relevant literature appears to have made use of now ubiquitous video calling software and synchronous, interactive discussion tools. Our own experiences in organising fieldwork aimed at understanding the impact of different “future-proofing” strategies for the European agri-food system during this period resulted in several methodological changes being made at short notice. We present an approach to converting in-person focus group to a virtual methodology and provide a checklist for researchers planning their own online focus groups. Our findings suggest data are comparable to in-person focus groups and factors influencing data quality during online focus groups can be safeguarded. There are several key steps, both before and during the focus groups, which can be taken to ensure the smooth running of such events. We share our reflections on this approach and provide a resource for other researchers moving to online-only data collection.