The Norwegian budstikke is a traditional wooden stick historically used to carry important messages across regions — a means of spreading news or warnings quickly through community cooperation. Today, the budstikke symbolizes collective action and shared responsibility in Norwegian culture, serving as a metaphor for rallying people together toward a common cause.
We adopt the budstikke as a symbol to carry key messages related to sustainable aquatic food systems for food security and nutrition — to encourage boundary-crossing between people with different knowledge and perspectives, and to call for actions from healthy waters to healthy people. This initiative aims to promote interdisciplinary science and science-based policymaking, emphasizing the essential role of aquatic foods as a key component for achieving sustainable food security and improved nutrition.
The key messages presented below reflect the content and discussions from the event and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Global Action Network’s mission statement.
Topic of the Event:
Data in support of Food Security and Nutrition – Aquatic Foods for Resilient Food Systems
Key Messages:
- Aquatic foods must be systematically recognised and valued for their nutritional contributions
- Nutrition data must be collected and used for decision-making
- Aquatic food systems need stronger policy integration and investment readiness
- Local innovation can turn aquatic foods into accessible nutrition
Topic of the Event:
Sustainable Blue Economy and Food from the Ocean
Key Messages:
- Aquatic foods are crucial for food security and nutrition
- It starts in a healthy ocean and there are many challenges along the way to ensure that sustainable, safe and nutritious, aquatic foods, are eaten by people as part of a healthy diet
- Research and knowledge is needed at all steps
- AAORIA has a role in providing this knowledge
Topic of the Event:
Aquatic Foods for Resilient Food Systems
Key Messages:
- Aquatic foods are essential for food security, nutrition, and sustainable food systems – a holistic approach is needed – building capacity – leaving no one behind.
- Sustainable fisheries require stronger governance and international cooperation, crime must be addressed to secure access.
- Strong analytical data is the foundation for keeping seafood safe, nutritious, and trusted – locally and globally.
- Monitoring and building knowledge on safe and nutritious aquatic foods require cross sectorial collaboration. Gaps between guidelines and consumption must be closed.
- Bridging the Ocean Decade and the Decade of Nutrition can accelerate global action.
Topic of the Event:
Key Messages:
- Small pelagic fish are nutrient-rich foods essential for food security, nutrition, and sustainable food systems.
- Fisheries management should account for nutrient yields, not only biomass and economic returns.
- Balancing direct human consumption and fishmeal production is critical to maximizing nutritional benefits.
- Unlocking the full potential of small pelagic fisheries requires collaboration across nutrition, fisheries, ecosystem, and food systems sectors.
Topic of the Event:
Sustainable Aquatic Food Systems: A people-centered approach for planetary and human health
Key Messages:
- Aquatic foods are nutrient-rich, low footprint climate solution, core of a just and sustainable food system.
- Fishers, aquaculture workers and traditional communities: protagonists and guardians of territorial knowledge, they must shape policy.
- Cross-border and cross-sector cooperation builds resilient, low-emission and inclusive aquatic food systems.
- Evidence-based, culturally adapted and accessible information and education turn aquatic foods into everyday healthy diets for all.
- Reach children early, positive seafood experiences and mindset interventions in schools build lifelong healthy, sustainable habits.
Topic of the Event:
Key Messages:
- Continue leveraging Programmes that connect research, policy, and practice, fostering collaboration and shared learning across sectors.
- Actively engage in partnerships and information sharing across countries to align strategies, harmonize data, and coordinate actions for greater collective impact.
- Prioritize the collection, analysis, and application of reliable, locally relevant data to guide evidence-based decision-making and adaptive management.
- Support training, mentorship, and long-term institutional development to ensure sustained technical and organizational capability.
- Advocate for and embed aquatic foods within national and regional nutrition, food security, and climate strategies to enhance their visibility and impact.”
Topic of the Event:
Key Messages:
- Increase in seafood consumption can promote both human health and sustainability.
- Nutritionists should be more visible in food system dialogues.
- Food system transformation is a smart investment and requires bundled actions by multiple actors.
- Efficient regulations, innovations and shift in mindset and social norms are also crucial.
- School meals should follow climate-friendly dietary guidelines and be introduced gradually accompanied by a pedagogical concept.
- Safe foods from the ocean with efficient monitoring system are important.
Topic of the Event:
The Ocean We Depend On – Achieving SDG 14 Through Sustainable Governance
Key Messages:
- International and regional cooperation is essential
- Science and evidence-based policy are fundamental to sustainable ocean governance and sustainable aquatic food systems
- Capacity building and inclusion are key to long-term sustainability
- The role of aquatic foods in nutrition and food security must be recognized and strengthened
Topic of the Event:
Optimising the Potential of Aquatic Food Systems – Science Needs for a Blue Transformation
Key Messages:
- Science must demonstrate the comparative benefits of aquatic food systems
- Aquatic food systems science must better engage in a food systems approach
- Science must be grounded in equity and justice to be optimised effectively and sustainably
- Science must drive nutrition-focused aquatic food systems governance
- Science must drive sustainable, nutrition-sensitive, and equitable aquaculture