Many people think of fish “farming” as an efficient and environmentally sustainable effort to feed the world while maintaining natural stocks of wild fish.
Unfortunately, nothing is further from the truth.
Many studies have shown that farmed fish and shellfish, which form a growing percentage of the seafood consumed around the globe, may pose unexpected risks to wild species, as well as to the environments in which they are raised.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an international group of scientists and other scientific groups have found may unintended impacts of fish farming that put both oceans and the aquaculture industry at risk.
Aquaculture, the raising of fish and other aquatic species is the fastest growing sector of the world food economy, and is increasing by 11 percent a year. Many people expect that fish farming will relieve pressure on ocean fish stocks which are already fished beyond capacity, and will provide a reliable source of food to a world population. The problem is that unsustainable fish farming practices are causing more harm than good. Dr. Daniel Pauly of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre released a global study, “Farming Up Marine Food Webs“, showing that major sectors of the booming aquaculture industry are literally feeding on world fisheries. Paradoxically, Pauly’s new study shows that the increasing trend toward farming carnivorous fish means that many types of aquaculture are contributing to a worldwide collapse of wild fisheries.
The “farming” of one pound of fish eating species such as shrimp, salmon, tuna or cod requires two to five pounds of wild caught fish to be caught and processed into meal and oil for fish feeds.
Thus, we are intensively fishing the oceans of the world to feed our “farmed fish” thereby increasing the rate of depletion of fish stocks and endangering wild populations of carnivorous fish.
Tilapia and carp are among the most common, and potentially most sustainable farm raised fish as they can be fed plants and “bottom muck” which minimizes their overall environmental impact. However, in an effort to increase the growth rates of the fish thereby increasing profits, many fish farming operation feed these “herbivorous” (plant eating) fish with fishmeal and fish oil for faster weight gain and marketability.
Thus, the “ideal” of efficiently feeding a hungry world in a sustainable manner with aquaculture is eluding us. The current trend in aquaculture is to drain the seas to feed the fish farms to feed people.
Traditional sustainable aquaculture which is the farming of fish that eat plants and bottom muck is being replaced by modern intensive farming of large, carnivorous fish because overfishing has decimated these fish in the wild.
There are however more sustainable fish farming operations such as Fish Breeders of Idaho, which raise a sustainable fish species, white tilapia, with the help of sustainable geothermal energy
Many proponents of current fish farming practices which rely on fish meal defend the practices on the basis that fish meal is abundant and inexpensive and consumer preferences for lower costs dictate aquaculture production and the use of fishmeal”.
According to Dr. Albert Tacon, head of the Oceanic Institute’s Aquatic Feeds and Nutrition Program in Hawaii. “Aquaculture is at a critical crossroads, and Fish farming could decrease pressure on fisheries and feed the worlds growing population. That’s why it is so important to proceed on a sustainable path.”
Aquaculture need not be so disruptive. There are many ways that the fish farming industry can produce more efficiently and with fewer negative environmental effects.
What you can do as an individual is eat herbivorous fish species such as Carp and Talapia which have been farmed by sustainable methods. Take the time to let your purchasing decisions impact your food supply and help to ensure a stable food supply for future generations. Reduce you intake of carnivorous fish species such as Salmon, Cod and Tuna, and avoid farmed carnivorous fish where possible.
