A WWF scientist recently hailed the controversial aquaculture industry as “the future”, predicting doubled production over the next two decades.
“It will be a major industry in the (developing) South and will be a major source of employment and income, replacing wild catch in terms of importance,” said Jason Clay, a scientist with the U.S. branch of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), according to an IPS news agency report.
With wild fish catches in sharp decline, aquaculture today accounts for nearly half of all seafood consumed. According to Clay, The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) predicts that per capita seafood consumption will increase 1.5 kilogrammes in the coming two decades.
The aquaculture industry still faces enormous challenges, however, not least of which is finding the feed needed for aquaculture operations, the IPS report said. Currently, one third of the global wild catch is for fishmeal and oil, most of which goes to aquaculture.
One solution is to be more efficient. Salmon require up to five kilograms of feed for every kg of fish produced. “In Mexico there are shrimp operations that only need 1.3 kg of feed to produce 1.0 kg of shrimp,” Clay said. “That is better than land-based animal protein production. Beef requires 10 kilos of feed to produce a kilo,” he added.
Land-based sources are still needed, however, as are improvements in aquaculture, so that the industry can become a net producer of fishmeal one day. Also, aquaculture is moving to the open sea to prevent some of the pollution issues found with many near-shore operations, he explained.