Grinding up fish to feed to fish is ‘absurd’: fears over UN aquaculture plan
Huge rollout of fish farms could harm ecosystems and threaten vulnerable communities’ food sources, say experts
TL;DR
- UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) aims to increase aquaculture production by 75% by 2040.
- Analysis by Changing Markets Foundation suggests this could lead to nearly half of the global wild fish catch being used as feed for farmed fish.
- This practice puts additional pressure on overexploited fisheries and harms marine ecosystems and communities reliant on them.
- Carnivorous farmed species are fed fishmeal and fish oil derived from grinding down smaller wild fish.
- Modeling predicts up to 34.6 million tonnes of wild fish could be used annually by 2040, potentially rising to 41.4 million tonnes under certain scenarios.
- Concerns raised about human rights implications and reduced access to food, especially in West Africa.
- Recommendations include prioritizing edible wild fish for human consumption and shifting aquaculture growth to species requiring less fishmeal and fish oil.
- The FAO's roadmap lacks specific guidance on how to meet growth targets sustainably.