Box 7.1 Biodiversity and fisheries

Over 1 100 species of fishes, molluscs and crustaceans directly contribute to production of the world's major fisheries. There are many additional species contributing to smaller-scale fisheries. In aquaculture, although the majority of production comes from a few species, there are over 300 species, which do contribute. Biodiversity as defined in the Convention on Biological Diversity -namely, the variability within species, among species, and of ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are part -is a basic element