Issue 77: Aquaculture
May 25, 2023
In this week’s issue:
- The blue revolution off our shores
- The Colorado River’s landmark deal
This is an archived issue. Sign up here to receive the Planet Snapshots newsletter every Thursday morning.
Feature Story: Aquaculture
What if we told you that the Zhou dynasty figured out sustainable fish-farming millennia ago? Perhaps they foresaw the post-industrial decline of wild fish populations and the collapse of marine food chains. Or maybe they just wanted a steady supply of delicious carp. We won’t carp on historical details, but what matters is that the ancient practice of aquaculture is once again rising in popularity and now provides nearly half of all seafood supply.
Large-scaled fishing operations have a fairly bad rap — and for good reason. Over the past two centuries, a global armada of ships have pulled as much fish as their nets allow from Earth’s oceans, often decimating populations and entire ecosystems in the process. The overfishing alarm bell has been clanging for decades, but new problems continue to surface. How do we sustainably feed a rapidly growing global population using less land and resources?
Aquaculture offers a promising alternative to increasingly tricky and hard-to-enforce regulations on open-sea fishing. In contrast to commercially targeting wild populations, aquaculture is the controlled production of aquatic organisms (basically farming fish). With food insecurity on the rise and populations growing, novel ways of squeezing more from less are needed. While cutting-edge technologies (like satellites) are leading the next agricultural revolution on land, aquaculture’s mechanisms are a tad simpler.
Seafood demand is expected to increase by 35% in the next 2 decades. It’s a nutritious and vital source of protein for a large portion of the world. But commercial fishing from wild sources is increasingly unsustainable. Aquaculture can help meet this discrepancy. It’s a regenerative form of fishing that can be done in freshwater, oceans, and constructed tanks and pools.
Here’s another kicker: aquaculture barely uses any land and resources compared to other sources of protein — just 2% by some accounts. And for the first time ever we produced more farmed fish than beef. Which answers the decades-old question of “Where’s the beef?” while indicating a positive step (stroke?) towards more responsible land use.
Like bureaucrats in California this spring, the big question is how can we use all this water to our advantage. Moving non-destructive industries to the ocean seems like a sound idea. And in some areas aquaculture can be paired with offshore wind — a double win for sustainable resources. China’s Nanri Island is surrounded by an interspersed mixture of wind turbines and kelp, seaweed, and abalone pens.
Aquaculture avoids many of traditional agriculture’s troubles. Offshore farming can be technically difficult, but the ocean’s circulation helps dilute pollution and prevents diseases from building up. Plus the fish often need less inputs than say, chickens or cows. Cold-blooded is an insult on land, but in the water it’s a compliment. Cold blood means less calories needed to heat, which means fish require less food than their warm-blooded counterparts.
The benefits of aquaculture may sound fishy. But they actually only taste it. There is a catch beyond the harvest, though, and that is the downside of rapid intensification. Aquaculture can succumb to the same troubles as land agriculture. If it’s too intensive then the aquafarms can deplete resources and promote disease. Laguna de Bay is so crowded with farmed fish that the immense amount of nutrients trigger fish-killing algal blooms.
Farms are turning to fast-growing breeds of tilapia and carp to increase production. And in places like Asia, where 90% of all fish farms operate, it’s hard not to come across these pens. Pull up Google Maps, punch in the words “China” on your keyboard, and start scrolling along the coast. The number of aquaculture facilities you’ll stumble across can perhaps be startling.
The fact of the matter is that the world needs more sustainable farming practices that produce more from less. Aquaculture not only does this but often also has the incredible ability to benefit local ecology. Oysters help clean and filter waterways, and kelp farms require practically no farming inputs to produce a nutritious and beneficial product. Aquaculture is an ancient industry that, if revitalized with care and measure, proves that we can have our fishcake and eat it too.
In the News: Colorado River
On the subject of exorbitant agricultural inputs… California, Arizona, and Nevada reached a landmark deal on regulating water usage from the Colorado River this week. The three states have agreed to conserve 3 million acre-feet of water over the next 3 years in response to the river’s dwindling supply. The problem is a mix of management and drought exacerbated by climate change. A graphic made by the New York Times reveals where the water is being used, and perhaps surprisingly for some, more than half is allocated for livestock.
This time last year, the Colorado River and its reservoirs were dangerously low, threatening both major cities and key agricultural areas reliant on its flow. Segments of the riverbed that have been underwater for decades were exposed as drought lowered levels considerably. This winter’s historic rainfall and snowpack will help alleviate some of the dry burden, but not enough to end it.
All imagery Ⓒ 2023 Planet Labs PBC
Editor: Ryder Kimball | Images: Ryder Kimball, Robert Simmon, Max Borrmann, Julian Peschel, Candace Chow, and Maarten Lambrechts
