An on-demand video of “An Essential Safeguard: Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management Can Improve Aquaculture Sustainability,” is available free for SeafoodSource Premium members and for USD 500 (EUR 427) to non-members through the Complete Digital Ticket: Seafood Expo Global.
This features presentations from Pew Charitable Trusts Senior Officer of Markets and International Fisheries Katy Hladki; Sciaena Executive Coordinator Goncalo Carvalho; Pew Charitable Trusts Project Director of International Fisheries Andrew Clayton; and SFP Global Supply Chain Director Dave Martin.
The session was advertised with the following description:
The growing demand for aquaculture products has put more pressure than ever on forage fisheries used to feed certain farmed species. These small fish serve as a crucial component of aquaculture feeds and play a key role in maintaining healthy and diverse marine ecosystems as essential food sources for seabirds, whales, seals, and other important ocean predators.
Traditional fisheries management often overlooks the broader ecosystem role of these fisheries, ultimately leading to unsustainable exploitation and reduced biodiversity. A promising solution is ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM), which requires decision-makers to evaluate success based on the overall health of an ecosystem rather than focusing on a single species.
For forage fish, this means balancing the needs of fishers, and ultimately the aquaculture industry, with those of natural predators in aquatic ecosystems. Adopting EBFM could improve fisheries management substantially while enhancing the resilience of fish populations the aquaculture industry relies on for feed against growing threats such as climate change.
Despite the well-documented advantages of EBFM and extensive research on its implementation, adoption of holistic fisheries management policies has been slow, jeopardizing both ocean ecosystems and global seafood supplies. This panel will convene EBFM experts and key stakeholders from the aquaculture sector to discuss how managers, scientists, and the industry can work together to promote the adoption of EBFM in global forage fisheries and ensure healthy ecosystems and sustainable global aquaculture.
The 2025 Seafood Expo Global (SEG), which took place 6 to 8 May 2025 in Barcelona, Spain, featured a comprehensive conference program of live panel events focusing on topics chosen to be of vital interest to the seafood industry.
The more than 25 individual presentations from SEG featured exclusive information and insight from seafood industry experts on a range of topics, including diversity in the seafood industry, environmental impacts surrounding sustainability, and preserving a successful future for aquaculture supply, demand, and distribution.
