But is fish farming really the silver bullet to solve the Earths food needs?
Can marine farms reliably satisfy the seafood cravings of three billion people around the globe?
Heres a look at aquaculture and its long-term effects on fish, people, and other animals.
While some fish farms can follow sustainable practices, that’s not always the case.
Farmed fish may not be as nutritious as wild.
Take omega-3 fatty acids, for example.
Wild fish get their omega-3s from marine lipids (or fats).
The farmed fishing industry also impacts wild species.
Tuna andsalmon, for example, need to eat up tofive pounds of fishfor each pound of body weight.
Fish can experience pain and stress.
Farmed fish are subject to theroutine stresses2of hyper-confinement throughout their lives or through exhausting harvesting methods.
The recognition that fish do experience stress and pain has called for improved welfare practices of farmed fish.
Farmed fish are subject to diseases, which can spread to wild fish populations.
Conventionally farmed fish are often packed in their net or pen as tightly as coins in a purse.
Drops in wild salmon numbers cause these species todeclineas well.
Fish farms can also damage local ecosystems.
Farmed fish are trying to escape their unpleasant conditions, and who can blame them?
In the North Atlantic region alone, up to two millionrunaway salmonescape into the wild each year.
Embryonic hybrid salmon, for example, are far less viable than their wild counterparts.
See: the Jevons Paradox.
According to this theory then, fish farms would actually drive more fishing, which can hurt wild populations.
The net result: Fish farming might crank up the pressure on already-depleted populations ofwild fisharound the world.
Now what?
The sustainability of fish farms emerges as a fishy story.
While these examples of fish farming harms presented are backed by evidence, they are not true foreveryfish farm.
In fact, some farmed fish are even more sustainable and healthful compared to their wild counterparts.
Heres one solution to the farmed fish dilemma: Shop forsustainable seafood, wildorfarmed.
