Some of the most nutritious foods in the ocean are being overlooked

Oysters, mussels, shrimp and other marine invertebrates make up a smaller fraction of seafood by weight, but a new analysis suggests they deliver disproportionately high amounts of key micronutrients. Led by Jessica Zamborain-Mason at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the team combined global catch and farm production records with nutrient measurements and modeled nutrition across 30 nutrients using 2019 as a base year. Invertebrates were about 15% of marine fisheries landed by weight, yet accounted for more than 30% of vitamin C and manganese, and over a quarter of folate, selenium and sodium in the catch. Estimates also translate to nutritional coverage for billions of people.