September 5, 2006

Aquaculture the only way to satisfy growing seafood demand, FAO says

Nearly half the fish consumed in the world are now farmed rather than caught in the wild, according to figures published last week by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Fish farming has grown as wild stocks suffer an irreversible decline as the world's oceans suffered the impact of over-fishing.

Without technological breakthroughs, fish farming could barely meet current levels of consumption, the FAO said.

About 45.5 million tonnes of farmed fish, worth US$63 billion, is eaten worldwide each year. Meanwhile, levels of captures of fish in the wild have remained roughly stable since the mid-1980s amid rising demand.

The FAO also found that the wild fish stocks are in no condition to meet further increases. Of the nearly 600 wild fish species the UN organisation monitors, half are considered fully exploited while a quarter are either overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion. A fifth of the specie is moderately exploited.

Meanwhile, the fish-farming industry has grown nearly five-fold in the past 20 years, according to the report- the State of World Aquaculture.

While acknowledging that fish farming is probably the only viable way to meet future demand, the FAO is doubtful whether it would be able to satisfy the market. This is particularly so as the industry needs fishmeal as feed for the fishes in fish farms, which is in itself in short supply. Fishmeal is also used in other livestock industries, which meant astronomical increases as the various industries compete for that commodity. 

Any expansion of fish farming is therefore dependent on the development of vegetable-based alternatives, FAO said.

Rohana Subasinghe, of the FAO's fisheries department, said that only aquaculture can provide the additional 40 million tonnes of aquatic food required by 2030. The only option for meeting future demand for fish, Dr Subasinghe argues, is by farming them.

However, the industry still faces various challenges, one of which is the lack of investment capital for producers in the developing world. Shortage of land and freshwater for use in aquaculture is also hampering the industry's development. Other problems that continue to plague the industry include rising energy costs, environmental impacts and product safety.