February 27, 2026 — A recently published study concluded that replacing the harvesting of fish would necessitate substantially more land for agricultural production to make up the ensuing protein gap, meaning it would not be a quick solution for sustainability.
The study, titled “Biodiversity Consequences of Replacing Animal Protein From Capture Fisheries With Animal Protein From Agriculture,” features research from scientists in Australia, the U.K., Sweden, and the U.S. Their collective work found that replacing all animal protein taken from marine fisheries with other sources could require an additional estimated 5 million square kilometers of land for livestock and poultry production.