according to new research<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cOur findings suggest that aquaculture is just adding to seafood production, not having any conservation effect,\u201d says Stefano Longo, a social scientist who studies the interactions between human and ecological systems at North Carolina State University.<\/p>\n
Longo and his colleagues used statistical models to analyze global aquaculture production and wild fish harvests from 1970 to 2014. They compared the total weight of aquaculture production with the total weight of wild-caught fish per capita. They found that increases in aquaculture production did not result in fewer wild fish being caught, and may have contributed to an increased demand for seafood.<\/p>\n
The effect is similar to how the introduction of energy-efficient LED light bulbs did not result in the expected reduction in total energy use\u2014instead, people simply used more light bulbs, as they were cheaper to run.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe notion that aquaculture is sustainable, and helps conserve marine species, is disingenuous,\u201d says Longo. \u201cThat\u2019s not what they\u2019re doing. They\u2019re producing a commodity for consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n
A major reason for the lack of any substitution effect with aquaculture, says Longo, is that many farmed species, such as salmon and bluefin tuna, are top predators so farming them requires feed made from other fish. Even if farming salmon means fewer wild salmon are being caught\u2014an idea that Longo did not investigate, but which is by no means certain\u2014salmon production still results in more baitfish, such as herring, being caught for feed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s possible that we are not eating as much wild salmon, but, at a societal level, the production of salmon becomes an avenue for increased seafood consumption,\u201d says Longo.<\/p>\n
Melanie Wiber, an anthropologist who studies aquaculture at the University of New Brunswick, says these results are not surprising for those who know a lot about how aquaculture works.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is increasing awareness that aquaculture may not be a sustainable protein production source, let alone that it should replace better sources of wild protein,\u201d she says. But, she adds, the idea is not well understood by the public, or indeed by many international organizations.<\/p>\n
Aquaculture companies are aware of this critique, Wiber says, and are trying to develop more sustainable food sources for their farmed fish. \u201cBut it\u2019s hard to take a top marine predator and feed it soy meal,\u201d Wiber says.<\/p>\n
Longo stresses that it is not the technology of aquaculture itself that is problematic, but how it has been used.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal is to produce and sell as much as possible, that\u2019s how the economy operates. It\u2019s based on growth, not conservation,\u201d he says. \u201cAquaculture can be an aspect of creating a more sustainable food system, it just hasn\u2019t been employed in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Aquaculture is often promoted as a sustainable alternative to catching wild fish\u2014a way to reduce pressure on overexploited stocks while providing affordable and necessary protein for people\u2019s diets. It\u2019s an argument put forward by major international organizations like the World <\/p>\n
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