Technology in the seafood industry is as old as the sea itself, dating back to the first time somebody thought it was a good idea to sharpen the end of a long stick and spear a fish in a shallow stream for dinner.
Given that history, aquaculture is a newcomer on the scene, not much more than three decades old, but in that time it has become a necessity when it comes to feeding the world.
In the United States alone, nearly all of the seafood Americans eat comes from abroad, and fully half of that is produced in a seafood farm of some kind. Aquaculture is also a key supplier of seafood to most other major world markets, and that’s unlikely to change if the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is correct.
According to FAO data, we will need to produce millions of metric tons more in seafood alone by 2030 if we hope to be able to properly feed the world. With experts pointing out shortages in stocks worldwide due to everything from overfishing to global warming, we simply cannot expect that needed increase in biomass to come from traditional fishing. It’s as ridiculous as thinking we can hunt wild boar or stalk chickens in the brush as an adequate replacement for farming pigs and poultry. Whether we like it or not, barring a worldwide abandonment of traditional meat-based protein in our collective diet, we must consider farming animals, including those that swim, for food — the world has too many mouths to feed to do it any other way.
Despite the embracing of seafood farming as the answer, the aquaculture industry has had its growing pains and suffered legitimate criticism for sometimes trying to expand too far too fast. Diseases such as white spot, infectious salmon anemia and early mortality syndrome have hit shrimp and salmon, two of the world’s most popular farmed species, sending a warning to seafood farmers that there’s a right — and wrong — way to do it.
Various NGOs have gone on record condemning aquaculture as dangerous to the environment and even dangerous to human health. While some of those criticisms have merit, many do not, and there are plenty of critics who are motivated by emotion rather than facts. Even those who mean well and take the time to document their concerns have often fallen back on the tired model of preaching doom and gloom without offering anything constructive. It is possible that some seafood farmers want to do their work in a better way, but don’t know how.
The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) is one organization that has consistently produced constructive feedback to the industry. Backed by solid, up-to-date science, the GAA seeks to teach the world the right way to farm seafood, whether it’s salmon, shrimp or oysters. Starting today, the GAA is holding its annual GOAL event, this year in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It runs through Friday, and SeafoodSource’s Senior Editor James Wright is there, providing full coverage of the event. We invite you to check back with SeafoodSource all week to see more of what GAA is up to. With any luck, we’ll all learn some better ways to feed the world.
