Global fisheries and aquaculture production hit a record 235 million tons in 2024, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported, with farmed seafood surpassing 100 million tons of aquatic animals for the first time. The milestone marks a turning point for an industry that now provides at least one-fifth of the animal protein consumed by 3.1 billion people, according to the FAO’s report “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture.”
Chile maintained its position as the leading supplier of salmon to the United States and ranks as the world’s fifth-largest exporter of aquatic animal products, the FAO said. Together with Norway, Chile accounts for nearly half the value of global salmon and trout exports. The country leads aquaculture production in Latin America and is recognized by the FAO as one of the world’s 10 leading aquaculture producers.
Latin America and the Caribbean exported $27 billion worth of aquatic products in 2024, the FAO said, accounting for 15% of global aquatic product exports despite representing just 9% of worldwide production. The region’s total output reached 13 million tons, driven mainly by Chilean salmon, anchoveta from Peru and Chile, and Ecuadorian shrimp.
“The growth aquaculture has experienced in recent decades has not been accidental,” Valeska San Martín, an academic at the Coastal Research Center of the University of Atacama and a researcher at the Millennium Institute in Coastal Socio-Ecology, told UPI. “Behind this progress lies significant work in research, innovation and technological development.”
San Martín said advances have enabled better feed for farmed species, more efficient genetic selection programs, increasingly precise environmental monitoring systems and automated tools that optimize feeding and health management. “All of this has helped increase productivity and improve the efficient use of resources while at the same time reducing part of the costs associated with production,” she said.
She added that Chile has been one of the most important players in global aquaculture development. “In 2024, it led global exports of frozen salmon and trout fillets, processed mussels, fishmeal and various algae-derived products, reaching more than 100 international markets, particularly the United States, Japan, Brazil, China and Europe,” she said.
Growth prospects remain positive, according to SalmonChile, the industry association representing salmon producers. The organization told UPI that Chilean salmon exports maintained a positive trend in 2026, reaching $1.991 billion in the first quarter — growth of 8% in value and 19% in volume compared with the same period a year earlier.
SalmonChile added that the record achieved by global aquaculture in 2024 confirms the growing prominence of aquaculture products in international trade and consolidates Chile’s position as one of the world’s leading salmon-producing powers.