Tag aquaculture

In his first piece for the Advocate, industry veteran Phil Walsh, VP of Growth for Alfa Gamma Seafood Group in Miami, wonders why consumers are so comfortable with farm-raised land animals, but not farm-raised fish. 

A handful of deep-pocketed philanthropic foundations hold tremendous influence on marine conservation organizations and, by extension, the seafood supply chain. At GOAL, a Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative director will challenge them to engage with the aquaculture industry, not solely fisheries. 

Shrimp culture in coastal Bangladesh is threatened by climate change variables that include flooding, cyclones, drought, salinity changes and rising sea levels. Holistic planning can help reduce the impacts. 

A unique pilot project supported by northern Chile’s biggest power-generating company and the Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture is raising cobia in a recirculating aquaculture system in the desert. 

Government policy and regulation are great determiners of whether aquaculture succeeds. Despite the spending of millions of government dollars on research and extension services, aquaculture production in the United States is declining. 

Tons of aquaculture byproducts are available as sources for fishmeal and fish oil to supplement the supplies obtained from fisheries. Innovative technologies are supporting more efficient use of these by-products in aquafeed. 

In integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, farmers combine the cultivation of fed species such as finfish or shrimp with extractive seaweeds, aquatic plants and shellfish and other invertebrates that recapture organic and inorganic particulate nutrients for their growth. 

Traditionally accepted calculations of wild fish use in feed for major farmed species tend to misrepresent fishmeal use. Some more current calculation methods require separate calculations for fishmeal and fish oil, or focus on quantity of protein from wild-caught fish. 

Although not universally practiced, the potential benefits of selective breeding in aquaculture outweigh all other options for improving animal performance. The genetic potential of aquaculture animals is plastic and can be improved over a relatively short timeframe. 

The Czech Republic is one of Europe’s largest fish producers and the world’s fourth-largest producer of freshwater ornamental and aquarium fish. 

While there are environmental, social and economic benefits from aquaculture facility certification, farms bear most of the costs, at least initially: procedures, equipment and services to achieve compliance. There are risks that new procedures could affect productivity and raise production costs. 

With aquaculture insurance, producers can substitute an insurance premium of a known cost for an unknown potential cost, the loss of stock. 

Those charged with determining the underlying cause of a disease outbreak have a wide variety of detective tools at their disposal. 

Germany produces a limited amount of carp, trout, mussels and other species. Although traditional pond-based farms continue to operate, the country’s aquaculture production is trending toward land-based systems that feature efficient resource use and reduced environmental impacts. 

Research is leading toward a methodology to assess the contribution of marine aquaculture through performance measurements and impacts.