Short Science, May 25, 2014

Humans have never eaten so much fish and other seafood, and nearly half of it is now grown in farms. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation says while 80 million tonnes of fish were caught "wild" in 2011-12, aquaculture production set another high at more than 90 million tonnes. The world harvested an extra 10 million tonnes of aquatic food in 2012 compared to 2011. "Fish farming holds tremendous promise in responding to surging demand for food," the report says. The UN is upbeat on fish stocks, identifying a marginal drop from 30 per cent to 28.8 per cent in over-exploitation.

Global spending on space grew 4 per cent last year to US$314 billion. Spending on satellites, launches and support services increased to US$314 billion, up 4 per cent, even though the US cut its space spending. Commercial space activity, including rocket launches to fly cargo to the International Space Station, fuelled most of the growth, the US Space Foundation report said.