We discovered that the state of the natural environment around fish pens can dramatically affect how far waste plumes travel from the source. This suggests that we should not simply assume 'dilution is the solution' for aquaculture pollution - Jeff Koseff
In an editiorial printed in Science magazine, aquaculture specialist Rosamond Naylor comments on the impact of the newly introduced National Offshore Aquaculture bill which establishes a permitting process for offshore aquaculture development within federal waters of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and encourages private investment in aquaculture operations, demonstrations, and research.
Richard and Rhoda Goldman Conference Room
If aquaculture is to play a responsible role in the future of seafood here at home, we must ensure that the "blue revolution" in ocean fish farming does not cause harm to the oceans and the marine life they support. The ratio of wild fisheries inputs to farmed fish output has fallen to 0.63 for the aquaculture sector as a whole but remains as high as 5.0 for Atlantic salmon.
With continued human pressure on marine fisheries and ocean resources,
aquaculture has become one of the most promising avenues for increasing
marine fish production in the future. This review presents recent trends and future
prospects for the aquaculture industry, with particular attention paid to ocean farming
and carnivorous finfish species. The benefits of farming carnivorous fish have been
challenged; extensive research on salmon has shown that farming such fish can have
negative ecological, social, and health impacts on areas and parties vastly separated in
space. Similar research is only beginning for the new carnivorous species farmed or
ranched in marine environments, such as cod, halibut, and bluefin tuna. These fish have
large market potential and are likely to play a defining role in the future direction of the
aquaculture industry.We review the available literature on aquaculture development of
carnivorous finfish species and assess its potential to relieve human pressure on marine
fisheries, many of which have experienced sharp declines.