With the world’s population and demand for fish continuing to rise, and increasing pressure to the wild fish stocks, aquaculture has become a responsible solution to seafood production. This ‘blue revolution’ is revolutionizing the coastal and the inland regions of the world as a way of ensuring food security, economic development and most importantly, the protection of the environment.
Modern technologies in the field of aquaculture have greatly enhanced the prospects of fish production and its sustainability. Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) are in the vanguard of this innovation and this makes it possible to grow fish in closed structures using little water and causing minimal impacts on the environment.
Atlantic Sapphire a company that specializes in land-based salmon farming has recently launched the largest RAS plant in Florida with the production capacity of 10,000 tons of salmon per year and 99% water recycling. Offshore aquaculture is also a relatively new and growing trend that involves rearing fish in cages located in offshore waters where water currents can effectively dilute and disperse wastes to the environment.
One of the leaders in this segment is Norway that has recently developed new offshore fish farms which could resist stormy weather conditions and produce up to 6 000 tones of salmon per year.Genetic research is therefore proving to be very beneficial in enhancing the sustainability of the aquaculture systems.
Producers are also breeding fish to be more disease resistant, grow bigger, and convert feed to flesh more efficiently. The approval of genetically engineered salmon for human consumption in the United States is a recent development in this area though it has been a subject to controversies concerning the safety and environmental impact of such technologies.
Feed innovation is addressing one of the most significant challenges in aquaculture sustainability: One of the major sources of fish meal and fish oil is through the use of wild caught fish. Calysta, for example, is already developing protein-rich feed ingredients from methane-consuming bacteria as a substitute to fishmeal. At the same time, algae-based feeds are being used as a source of omega-3 fatty acid, thus gradually eliminating the use of fish oil in the feed formulation for aquaculture fish.
Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) systems are increasingly being adopted due to the concept of developing culture systems that imitate natural ecosystems. It involves rearing of fish together with shellfish and seaweed thus the wastes from fish are used as foods by the other species. This approach enhances water quality, farm production output and overall productivity, which is a plus to the farmers.
The new sustainable aquaculture is changing the lives of the people living in the coastal areas of the world. In Southeast Asia fish became scarce and traditional fishing communities are forced to seek new opportunities in aquaculture. For instance, Vietnam has experienced an annual growth rate of 20% in its aquaculture industry in the last decade making it one of the most important economic and employment generating subsectors in Vietnam.
But the growth of aquaculture is not without difficulties. Other issues that have been raised include the effects of the habitat on the natural environment, the effect of the diseases on the wild animals. To solve these challenges, some organizations such as the Aquaculture Stewardship Council are in the process of developing strict certification to promote the right methods of farming.
Governments are also taking a very active part in determining the future of sustainable aquaculture. The so-called Blue Economy is the European Union’s new strategic plan for sustainable aquaculture that is to boost production by 30% by the year 2030 while decreasing the sector’s impact on the environment. In the United States, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has put in place a one-stop-shop approach to permitting of offshore aquaculture in the federal waters to support development of the sector.
This has been the case as the aquaculture industry grows and diversifies to adopt other industries to make better food production systems. Aquaculture integrated with hydroponic horticulture or aquaponics is becoming increasingly popular in urban centres due to its efficiency in the use of space. On the same note, the utilization of fish waste as a source of fertilizer for the conventional farming on land is leading to development of new intermodality between aquatic and dry farming.
The blue revolution in aquaculture is a crucial part of the global strategies in feeding the world’s population and saving the oceans. As technology progresses and as the methods are improved, aquaculture or farming of fish can certainly feed a large part of the world population’s protein needs without leading to overexploitation of the natural fish stocks. The next few years will be very decisive for this potential, on the one hand, it is necessary to increase food production, on the other hand, environmental and social aspects must be taken into account.
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