Carnivorous fish like tuna use up large amounts of fishmeal
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Half of all fish eaten is now farm-reared
Ecologist
8th September, 2009
Rising consumer demand for fish with large quantities of omega-3 fatty acid is putting a strain on marine ecosystem
Half of the fish consumed around the world is now raised on farms, according to a Stanford University study.
Production of farmed fish almost trebled in volume between 1995 and 2007, driven by a massive rise in consumer demand for omega-3 fatty acids.
However, the industry's demand for wild fish to create feed for farmed fish is putting a strain on the marine system.
To maximise growth and improve flavour, fish farms use large quantities of fishmeal and fish oil made from less valuable wild-caught species, including anchoveta and sardine.
In 2006, 20 million metric tons of wild fish were caught to produce fishmeal.
'It can take up to 5 pounds of wild fish to produce 1 pound of salmon, and we eat a lot of salmon," said study author Professor Rosamond L. Naylor, director of the Stanford Program on Food Security and the Environment.
The study recommends fish-feed substitutes including protein from grain and livestock byproducts. It also says vegetarian species, such as Chinese carp and tilapia can be raised on feed made from plants and not wild fish.
'Our thirst for long-chain omega-3 oils will continue to put a lot of strain on marine ecosystems, unless we develop commercially viable alternatives soon,' said Naylor.
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Users Comments
Re: Half of all fish eaten is now farm-rearedIt's remarkable how a publication claiming to have the characteristics of an ecologist can put out such a biased distortion of science. While farmed fish may eat wild fish in thier pellets the feed lot conversion efficiency is vastly higher than what is experienced in wild fish. Hence wild salmon eat many times the "five pounds" of wild fish to gain a pound of weight. So when you choose to eat a wild salmon instead of a farmed salmon you are responsible for killing perhaps 50 pounds of wild fish for every pound of salmon. It's now clear that ALL the wild salmon are and have long been endangered species as reports of the missing salmon on the Pacific coast of North America are an annual "news" item. That "the ecologist" would be so clearly in league with those buffalo hunters who insist that there is no end to wild creatures to slaughter and that farmers are in fact the evil ones is clear evidence those who are responsible for this publication posess not one iota not one fish scale of ecological understanding or sensibility. | |
Re: Response to aboveThe best way to safeguard fish stocks and the health of our ocean ecosystems is to stop buying the big fish like Salmon/Tuna and switch to smaller fish like mackerel.
More about fish farming: http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/food_and_drink/269615/to_farm_or_to_fish_does_aquaculture_have_the_answer.html |
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