Strategy for sustainable aquaculture, the world's fastest growing food
sector

Date:
August 3, 2020
Source:
University of California - Santa Barbara
Summary:
As the population grows, and the global standard of living improves,
humanity's appetite for seafood is increasing. In 2020 seafood
consumption reached an all-time high, with an average of 20kg
consumed annually by every person on the planet.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
As the population grows, and the global standard of living improves,
humanity's appetite for seafood is increasing. In 2020 seafood consumption reached an all- time high, with an average of 20kg consumed annually by
every person on the planet.


==========================================================================
Up to now most of this was caught in the world's freshwaters and
oceans. But things are changing, and today half of all seafood consumed
comes from farmed sources, called aquaculture. The sector is expected
to double by 2050 to supply the increasing global demand.

UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor Halley E. Froehlich has contributed
to an evaluation of the complex interactions between human, environmental
and animal health parameters of this budding industry, a view scientists
call the One Health framework. The study, published in the journal
Nature Food, brings together a diverse team of scientists, economists, sociologists and policy specialists led by the Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture Futures -- a joint initiative between the University of
Exeter and the United Kingdom's Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.

"Aquaculture is now being more widely recognized as an important part
of our global food system," said Froehlich, a faculty member in the
departments of environmental studies and of ecology, evolution, and
marine biology. "And it will continue to grow. So the question is, how
do we plot that course in a more sustainable way?" Aquaculture has
played a major role in lifting millions of people out of poverty
in many low and middle-income nations, but it faces a range of
sustainability challenges. These include environmental degradation,
overuse of antibiotics, release of disease agents and the requirement
of wild-caught fish meal and fish oil to produce feed. Parts of the
industry also engage in poor labor practices and gender inequality.

Negative societal impressions created by such examples mask aquaculture's potentially significant benefits. Farming cold-blooded animals is very efficient from a nutrient perspective. Many species, such as oysters,
don't even require feeding. In addition, aquaculture can operate on a
smaller footprint than many other forms of food production.



==========================================================================
The new paper uses the One Health framework to lay out a set of metrics
to include in national aquaculture strategies across the globe to
improve sustainability as the industry expands. These include concepts
like access to nutritious food and quality employment, the health of
wild fish stocks and ecosystems and maintaining a small environmental
footprint and resilience to climate change.

Communication, cooperation and coordination will be critical to the
sustainable development of aquaculture as the sector grows. "If you
don't have that knowledge transfer -- for instance, from scientists
to policy-makers or farmers to scientists -- these types of framework structures won't go anywhere," Froehlich said.

With that in mind, the authors collaborated widely on this report. "The
paper results from extensive interaction between a wide range of academic experts in aquaculture, health, environmental and social sciences,
economists, industry stakeholders and policy groups," said senior
co-author Charles Tyler from the University of Exeter.

The paper presents a strategy for developing aquiculture as well as the benchmarks to which we will measure its sustainability and success. "This
is an important paper," said lead author, Grant Stentiford of the Centre
for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, "acknowledging that aquaculture is set to deliver most of our seafood by 2050, but also that sustainability must be designed-in at every level." The One Health
approach offers a tool for governments to consider when designing
policies. "I hope it will become a blueprint for how government
and industry interact on these issues in the future," Stentiford
added. "Most importantly, it considers aquaculture's evolution from a
subject studied by specialists to an important food sector -- requiring
now a much broader interaction with policy and society than arguably
has occurred in the past." Some of these principles are already being
applied in the European Union and in Norway, according to Froehlich, who
has begun shifting her focus toward the industry in the United States, especially California. She is currently in the middle of a Sea Grant
project collecting the most comprehensive dataset of marine aquaculture information from across all coastal states in the U.S. This includes
practices, policies, and the hidden interactions with fisheries that
influence how aquaculture is conducted in each state.

"Aquaculture is everywhere and nowhere at the same time," Froehlich said.

"People don't realize how integrated it is into so many facets of marine ecology, conservation biology, and fisheries."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_Santa_Barbara. Original written by Harrison
Tasoff. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. G. D. Stentiford, I. J. Bateman, S. J. Hinchliffe, D. Bass,
R. Hartnell,
E. M. Santos, M. J. Devlin, S. W. Feist, N. G. H. Taylor,
D. W. Verner- Jeffreys, R. van Aerle, E. J. Peeler,
W. A. Higman, L. Smith, R. Baines, D. C. Behringer, I. Katsiadaki,
H. E. Froehlich, C. R. Tyler. Sustainable aquaculture through the
One Health lens. Nature Food, 2020; DOI: 10.1038/ s43016-020-0127-5 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200803140042.htm

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