Advances in aquaculture

[Kent Wang]

I was chatting with my fishmonger and he told me that what will be really exciting in the next few decades are the advances in aquaculture. He predicts that, maybe not in his lifetime, but maybe within mine (I'm 20) that we will be able to farm nearly every species that's out there. He thinks the demand for seafood will steadily rise, and technology and industry will step up to the plate with new aquaculture techniques. He also cited the example, one which I have not been able to verify on Google, that there are some operations now that are even farming tuna by corralling them in nets.

What do you think the future has in store?

[highchef]

Never thought much about it until we bought land on the gulf coast. It's amazing how much more we began to appreciate the salt water ecosystem and CONSCIENCELY care about what goes into the water. You begin farming those fish and crabs and you'll have to figure out a way of keeping toxins away from them. This is a good thing.

we'll get to eat more seafood and have cleaner water. I like it.

[Chris Amirault]

Well, not everyone's so sanguine about the future of aquaculture: click here and here.

[highchef]

If the fishmonger who's livlyhood depends on things getting better believes that there's a future there, and people bitch enough about the crap that's polluting our food then I'm going to be optimistic. I've seen and heard enough the last couple of years to notice that, like global warming, the alarm has been raised and people are heeding. I don't know if it's in time, I just hope... I really like seafood, and am tired of worrying about heavy metals and nasty oysters. I know it won't be in my lifetime, but maybe in my kids. You will never see one of my children throwing crap in the water or out a window anytime or anywhere. It's like smoking...there's a universal knowledge in place now that says 'it's bad'. I'm probably being too optimistic now. I know the fire has to stay stoked, but I think the fish will win and we'll figure out how to eat and not kill ourselves in the process. Maybe.

[Gifted Gourmet]

The current article which appears in New Scientist makes many interesting points on the topic of what is occuring with several species of ocean life.

Deep-sea fish species decimated in a generation

At least five species of deepwater exotic fish – only caught since the 1970s – are now on the critically endangered list, according to Canadian scientists. The researchers say many other species are likely to be similarly endangered and, worse, there seems little hope of saving them. The deep-sea species reproduce slowly, often not until their late teens, so they do not recover readily from excessive fishing.  Scientists have always feared they would be easy to deplete – and those fears have now been realised.  Between 1978 and 1994 the five lost between 87% and 98% of their initial abundance. Their average size has also halved, showing that few fish are getting a chance to mature and breed. The data on the five species show that in three generations they will decline by 99% to 100% – i.e. they will go extinct.

This article, while highly informative, is just plain frightening, to me at least.

[rlibkind]

There's aquaculture and then there's aquaculture. In other words, like everything else in life, it can be good, bad or somewhere inbetween.

Certainly some forms of aquaculture, but especially farming saltwater fish in pens, raises serious issues. How you come out on that depends upon your thoughts regarding damage to estuarine environments vs. production of cheap protein. There are a lot of shades of gray there, and the particular hue depends an awful lot on the practices of the aquaculturist.

But what about shellfish aquaculture, specifically oysters. Is there an oyster available anywhere that isn't a product of aquaculture these days? Although I'm sure someone somewhere can come up with something negative about oyster aquaculture, overall its impact on the environment is benign but the results of the science and industry are outstanding.

And freshwater aquaculture has been particularly successful. Not without problems that need to be monitored and addressed, but by and large freshwater aquaculture has helped not merely bring fish to our tables but continues to make a significant contribution in feeding the hungry and/or putting cash in their handa.

So, what I'm saying (to repeat it for about the zillionth time) is that aquaculture, per se, is not a bad thing. Some aquaculture is good, some is bad, and some is inbetween.

[Oyster Guy]

Oyster aquaculture is the only sustainable aquaculture going at this present time.

This is no Johnny-come lately either. But, it seems to be the future.

The Japanese began to aquaculture oysters on the hard tidal mud flats in 2000 B.C.

The ancient Greeks would throw broken shards of pottery into the harbors in hope that baby oysters would attach themselves to it, also inventing one of the oldest forms of recycling as well.

The only negative effect it has (or should I say had) was the amount of waste product that the oysters naturally produce as any living creature does.

In British Columbia, Canada, shellfish growers (some) have suspended trays beneath their oyster rafts and are now farming sea cucumber which thrives quite nicely on whatever the oysters send their way and it is also another cash crop for the grower.

There are a few good reasons for aquaculturing oysters.

1. The quality and health of aquacultured oysters are checked on a daily basis as are the waters from which they harvested. This ensures nothing but a healthy, clean product is available to the consumer.

2. Some species of oysters would have become extinct due to habitat degradation and overharvesting if they were not farmed. The Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) and the Kumomoto oyster (Crassostrea sikamea) to name just 2, would have vanished from the wild if they were not aquacultured. French oyster growers (although very few would admit it) buy the seed for their Belon (Ostrea edulis-European Flat or Plate oyster) in British Columbia or Washington State and transplant them onto the native oyster beds. The Japanese or Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) is the most widely farmed oyster in the world.

300 million metric tons are harvested in just France alone every year.

3. Oysters actually improve the habitat in which they are grown. As they are filter feeders, the average size oyster filters about 80 liters of seawater a day to feed itself. They provide food and shelter for other species of sea life.

Oysters at one time could process all the water in Chesapeake Bay (3 trillion gallons) in just 3 days! It now, sadly, would take 5 years with the current reduced stock of oysters.

For an operation that improves the environment it is grown in and provides the masses with a cheap form of protein, I'd say it is the way to go.

Oysters have historically sustained the poor and adorned the tables of the rich.

And we could always learn from history.

Also unlike every other aquaculture operation, they don't require any food (other than what is found in the water naturally, phytoplankton, zooplankton and algae).

No chemicals, pesticides or even fertilizer. The others cannot make this claim.

Even organic farms on land cannot make this claim as they use manure for fertilizer.

As for the other forms of aquaculture, I worry about escaped farmed stock interbreeding with the wild stock and watering down the genetic pool of the wild stock.

I think more study and research should be done before they proceed.

I also hate to see such a noble creature such as the Atlantic Salmon turned into the broiler chicken of the sea.

Keep on shucking

Oyster Guy

Edited January 12, 2006 by Oyster Guy (log)

[fatmat]

I feel that there is a tendency to ignore what happens under the sea - if we can't see it, we pretend like it's not there. Currently I believe the sea is being raped - if the kind of industrial abuse was taking place on land, there would be uproar - however, what we can't see does not bother is.

As aquaculture develops, same as any 'new' thing, legislation will fall behind, leaving the the world's water open to wide scale abuse.

I see the development of aquaculture as a good thing, but in the short term, I am concerned about the quality of the produce and the damage to oceans.

[Oyster Guy]

I feel that there is a tendency to ignore what happens under the sea - if we can't see it, we pretend like it's not there. Currently I believe the sea is being raped - if the kind of industrial abuse was taking place on land, there would be uproar - however, what we can't see does not bother is.

As aquaculture develops, same as any 'new' thing, legislation will fall behind, leaving the the world's water open to wide scale abuse.

I see the development of aquaculture as a good thing, but in the short term, I am concerned about the quality of the produce and the damage to oceans.

←

The thing is with industrial farming on land in North America anyways, it is already happening.

In California's Imperial Valley (one of their major food producing areas) the ground salt is turning hundreds of acres into completely useless land from being farmed so extensively and for so long.

Yet no-one seems to be in an uproar about it except the farmers.

I sincerely hope that what you have stated applies to fish farms and not oyster aquaculturing which I have stated above does not have the same practices as the fish farms.

It is certainly not a "new thing" as you so glibly stated. And (in Canada anyways) the legislation was in place years ago to prevent this from happening.

We saw the Grand Banks off Newfoundland raped (your words) by European countries that fished illegally and over their allotted quotas for centuries. Your country and Spain being some of the worst offenders. And the EU is still at it despite everything that has been said and done. All this so you can have your fish and chips!

Now, our northern cod fishery is no more and our government finally swung into action. Too little, too late. I personally thought we should have sunk a couple of fishing boats to get our point across but that's my opinion.

It is also providing a cheap source of protein for this over-populated planet.

Myself, and other oyster growers are involved right now in teaching the Brazilian government how to farm oysters in order to provide cheap protein to the people.

This prevents more of the rainforest from being destroyed in order to raise cattle.

I don't see you offering any better solutions in your rather flippant remarks and I can assure you that oyster growers such as myself are very concerned about what goes on under the ocean.

We decided to do something about it rather than sit back and offer criticism and nothing more.

What have you done lately?

Edited January 13, 2006 by Oyster Guy (log)

[Adam Balic]

Interesting post oysterguy. The comments about giving the Brazilians an option for a cheap form of protein is very intersting. As you know this what oysters were used for purpose in many regions. Here in Edinburgh, when there has been road works around the Old Town, oyster shells tend to turn up in the soil.

I think that the Nature article raised and interesting point, the majority of the five species effected were actually by-catch. So they most likely were not even used as industrial fish, just dumped.

Some forms of shrimp fishing generate hugh amounts of by-catch (80% in some regions), but Shrimp aquaculture can also be incredibly destructive. Globally, people are not going to stop buying shrimp, so I don't know what the answer to this issue is.

Regarding aquaculture, I think that it has to be taken in a case by case basis. The oysterguy indicated some really positive points about oyster aquaculture and I am sure there are other examples.

My major concern about salt water fish aquaculture is not the pollution, or the health of the fish, but more that it takes up to 3 kilos of wild caught 'industrial' fish to produce a kilo of farmed fish. Obviously these industrial fish are mostly not fish that we would eat, but other things do like, eh, fish that we might want to eat.

Not sure what the solution to this is, but my guess is that population crashes of fish, commercially important or by-catch, will become more and more common. I hope that egullet is around in 20 years time do that I can compare what I am eating now with what is avalible then.

[Oyster Guy]

I agree, Adam.

Aquaculture should be taken on a case-by-case basis. It just frustrates me when people lump us together with fish farmers who I feel are destroying the balance of nature with their operations.

By-catch also concerns me a great deal and the odd time that it happens when we harvest oysters, we have taken great pains to return the animal(s) alive back to the ocean.

I think that if sufficent time and effort was spent on research and the impact that certain forms of aquaculture has on the environment, then it just might work out to the best.

I don't think that any one nation could manage the world's oceans but this should fall under the jurisdiciton of the United Nations and the law ought to have some teeth so that offending nations (people) can be properly punished for their damaging practices.

I could go on about this topic ad nauseum but I won't.

Keep on shucking

Oyster Guy

[fatmat]

It is certainly not a "new thing" as you so glibly stated.

No shit!! But it's current rise is new, many new methods are being developed, in advance of legislation.

I am not anti in any way, merely concerned

And (in Canada anyways) the legislation was in place years ago to prevent this from happening.

We saw the Grand Banks off Newfoundland raped (your words) by European countries that fished illegally and over their allotted quotas for centuries. Your country and Spain being some of the worst offenders. And the EU is still at it despite everything that has been said and done.

All this so you can have your fish and chips!

Not mine. However, the past can't be changed, but the future should be planned for. Sadly we seem to be raping our own seas too - I don't condone this either.

Now, our northern cod fishery is no more and our government finally swung into action. Too little, too late. I personally thought we should have sunk a couple of fishing boats to get our point across but that's my opinion.

It is also providing a cheap source of protein for this over-populated planet.

Myself, and other oyster growers are involved right now in teaching the Brazilian government how to farm oysters in order to provide cheap protein to the people.

This prevents more of the rainforest from being destroyed in order to raise cattle.

I don't see you offering any better solutions in your rather flippant remarks and I can assure you that oyster growers such as myself are very concerned about what goes on under the ocean.

We decided to do something about it rather than sit back and offer criticism and nothing more.

Not intended to be criticism, merely concered. Whilst I am sure that your methods are entirely wholesome, I understand that there are many are not - if this is not the case, please re-educate this poor ignorant fool.

I see the development of aquaculture as a good thing, but in the short term, I am concerned about the quality of the produce and the damage to oceans.

Also, I don't think that you finished reading my post before you threw your toys out - as I said, I think that it is a good thing, but I have concerns about current methods.

What have you done lately?

In terms of what have I done lately, enough, but I don't feel that the world should owe me a favour for it. If you are going to give, give freely.

Edited January 13, 2006 by fatmat (log)

[Sam Salmon]

Excellent posts from Oyster Guy-he's made some important points about Shellfish Aquaculture.

Being a how we're both from BC-a place where shoddily run/economically unsustainable Salmon Aquaculture operations have blackened the name of almost everyone involved in Aquaculture-I empathise with his position.

As to Tuna Aquaculture Bluefin are being 'ranched' south of Ensenada-wild fish are corralled @ sea and kept in what amount to feedlots and Aussies are trying to raise them in what you or I might call bathtubs-with little success to date.

Ditto Sturgeon near Bakersfield California.

Small scale land based farming of Mahi Mahi is being attempted in Western Australia.

The difficulty of course is as mentioned finding a low cost supply of feed for the animals-nothing is truly free even the multitude of nameless species gleaned by factory trawlers from the vast reaches of the Southern Ocean is becoming too expensive as fuel prices rise.

The Fishmonger as mentioned in the OP has stars in his eyes if he thinks that it's a smooth road to the future of Seafood production.

Here in Vancouver we see a lot of low grade seafood from Aquaculture operations in China-now the world's largest producer.

Without exception it's gawdawful mush fit for Prawn bait and little else.