Feeding small fish to people instead of to farmed salmon could make
seafood production more sustainable
Study suggests that aquaculture is currently inefficient, wasting
important nutrients while depleting global fish stocks

Date:
March 1, 2022
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
Farming Atlantic salmon requires a high volume of wild-caught
fish as feed, but produces only a small percentage of the world's
farmed fish supply. A study suggests redirecting wild-caught fish
towards human consumption instead of salmon farming could relieve
pressure on fish stocks while increasing seafood production.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Farming Atlantic salmon requires a high volume of wild-caught fish
as feed, but produces only a small percentage of the world's farmed
fish supply. A study published March 1 in PLOS Sustainability and Transformation by David F. Willer at University of Cambridge, United
Kingdom, and colleagues suggests redirecting wild-caught fish towards
human consumption instead of salmon farming could relieve pressure on
fish stocks while increasing seafood production.


========================================================================== Increased demand for seafood has driven an expansion in
aquaculture. However, 90 percent of commercial fish feed is made
from food-grade fish such as sardines and anchovies that are edible to
humans. To analyze the efficiency of aquaculture in terms of net nutrient production, researchers first quantified the volume of micronutrients
and wild fish retained by fish-fed farmed salmon using 2014 data on
Scotland's farmed salmon production. They calculated the volume of micronutrients used as aquaculture inputs and compared it to salmon
aquaculture nutrient outputs. Using these data, the researchers modeled
several seafood production scenarios to assess potential sustainability benefits of alternative seafood systems.

The researchers found that in 2014, 460,000 tonnes of wild-caught fish
were used to produce 179,000 tonnes of Scottish salmon. 76 percent of
the wild- caught fish were edible for human consumption. The data also
suggest that multiple alternative seafood production models would be more efficient in terms of net nutrient production, so could significantly
reduce wild fish capture while increasing global seafood supply. However,
these data were limited to only one year (2014). Future studies are
needed to better understand how to operationalize a global shift away
from farmed fish toward sustainable fisheries.

According to the authors, "Feed production now accounts for 90% of
the environmental footprint of salmonid production. Allowing salmonid production to expand further via its current approach will place
exceptional stress on global fish stocks already at their limit. Our
results suggest that limiting the volume of wild-caught fish used to
produce farmed salmon feed may relieve pressure on wild fish stocks
while increasing supply of nutritious wild fish for human consumption."
The authors add: "Nutritious fish stocks are being squandered by
salmon farming. Scientists reveal that eating the wild-caught fish
destined for salmon farms would allow nearly 4 million tons of fish to
be left in the sea while providing an extra 6 million tons of seafood." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. David F. Willer, James P. W. Robinson, Grace T. Patterson,
Karen Luyckx.

Maximising sustainable nutrient production from coupled fisheries-
aquaculture systems. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, 2022;
1 (3): e0000005 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pstr.0000005 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220301141313.htm

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