What can Dr. Pauly and cannot do

Following my frequent public actually consists of two subsectors diet they are given. They get these lectures on the parlous states of that are as distinct from each other animal proteins in the form of in the world, I invariably as growing vegetables and raising fishmeal and oils, which are get the question, “Is aquaculture cattle. I call these two sectors made by grinding up millions of not the answer to all these “Aquaculture A” and “Aquaculture tons of sardine, anchovies, herring, problems?” This sounds reasonable: B,” with the former being the mackerel and other fish that are not If fish populations dwindle in the farming of mussel, oyster, clam only perfectly edible, but favored in wild, why not grow fish in coastal and other animals that feed on Europe as well as African and Asian areas, or on land, or in ponds or microscopic algae (i.e. the grass of countries, where they often are the tanks? After all, this is what we do the sea), and the latter being the only “meat” many people can afford. with plants and agriculture. raising of carnivorous fish, such as salmon, seabass and groupers. Thus, when we speak of “us” American journalist H.L. Mencken needing to increase aquaculture is supposed to have said: “For every While the former do not need to be production so “we” have enough complex problem there is an answer fed animal protein any more than fish in the future, the question is that is clear, simple and wrong.” carp, tilapia and other freshwater who is “us” and “we.” If “we” pertains This is a good example of that. herbivores, marine carnivores to the U.S., Canada and Europe, Aquaculture (including mariculture) must have animal proteins in the then yes, “we” can increase our

30 supply of salmon for our sushi and of species that has so far remained other delicacies. If “we” are people underexploited in the ocean, which throughout the world, then no, the is the reason why yellowfin and more carnivorous fish we raise, the other tunas are still able to find less fish there will be both in the some food. However, mesopelagics water and in the diets of poorer will probably be turned into people. fishmeal, as well.

That aquaculture B consumes The reason for this fishmeal rather than produces fish is not “hunger” is that soybean meal, intuitive. It’s similar to the fact that long touted as a replacement for air conditioners actually warm the fishmeal, cannot fully substitute Dr. Daniel Pauly is the founder and world (when accounting for not for it; fish fed soymeal get sick director of the Sea Around Us project only the space they cool, but for without fishmeal and/or fish oil, at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, the space that gets the waste heat), and they also taste like tofu. Thus, and is a member of the Oceana board. or that our discarded plastic bags while fish feed may contain more do not actually vanish into thin air soymeal than before, the increased when we “recycle” them.

Thus, fisheries will not be replaced production of Aquaculture B still Figure 1. Trends in fisheries catches and by aquaculture (at least not raises demand for fishmeal. aquaculture production, 1950-2014. The black lines are based on marine and freshwater by Aquaculture B, the one we In the meantime, let’s be wary fisheries catch and aquaculture production data love in “our” countries). Rather, of people who tell us that from the Food and Agriculture Organization Aquaculture B, in search of more aquaculture will solve our fisheries of the United Nations (FAO), as reported by its and more feedstock, is currently problems. They tend to forget that member countries, and includes edible algae (mainly from China). The trend in dark blue exploiting Antarctic krill — the food aquaculture uses an increasing is based on freshwater catch data from FAO, of penguins and marine mammals — fraction of the limited fishmeal plus marine catch data “reconstructed” by the and will soon target tiny lanternfish obtained from fisheries and will Sea Around Us, (see www.seaaroundus.org) and other mesopelagic found destroy, in order to grow, the food minus discarded fish (also not included in the FAO data) and the fish used for fishmeal and in shallow waters at night (when base of our remaining wild fish — for aquaculture (to avoid double counting), tuna feed on them), and at depths most notably by extracting krill and i.e. 70 percent in the 2010s, declining to 50 of up to 3,000 feet during the day. mesopelagic fishes. percent in the 1980s. The light blue trend These fish may be the last group shows aquaculture production data from FAO, excluding edible algae.

31 SUMMER 2019 | Oceana.org