Aquaculture sector around the globe is using all the force of modern marketing to boost its products with the label of sustainability. The demand of sustainable seafood has increased during the last one year. Many new aquaculture companies are coming ups and launched their new products as sustainable. This confirms that the future of aquaculture industry is bright but the industry still has a long way to go to provide guiltless seafood eating.
Martha Smith, Program Director for the Center for Coastal and Watershed Systems at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, informed that after thorough survey it is found that the current aquaculture practices threaten the sustainability of the marine food chain and are a potential source of drug resistance to the people who eat them. It is mentioned in a report that most of the currently farmed fish are carnivorous species; their diet is largely made up of other fish species. It is estimated that it takes, by weight, between two to five pounds of wild fish to produce one pound of farmed fish. Right calculation proves that this isn’t sustainable.
It is said that aquaculture is essentially factory farming of fish, with many of same unhealthy aspects. The risk of disease always occurs when a large number of one species is crowded into a small space. Precautionary control with drugs is a reality to ensure a return on the investment. With growing concern over antibiotic resistance due to eating factory farmed meat in this country, adding farmed fish to the list is hardly taking a step in the right direction.
