Publication Date:
2022-11-07
Description:
As the human population grows and climate change threatens the stability of seafood sources, we face the key question of how we will meetincreasing demand, and do so sustainably. Many of the 20 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) member nations havebeen global leaders in the protection and management of wild fisheries, but to date, most of these nations have not developed robust aqua-culture industries. Using existing data and documentation of aquaculture targets from government and industry, we compiled and analysedpast trends in farmed and wild seafood production and consumption in ICES nations, as well as the potential and need to increase aquacul-ture production by 2050. We found that the majority of ICES nations lacks long-term strategies for aquaculture growth, with an increasinggap between future domestic production and consumption—resulting in a potential 7 million tonne domestic seafood deficit by 2050, whichwould be supplemented by imports from other countries (e.g. China). We also found recognition of climate change as a concern for aquacul-ture growth, but little on what that means for meeting production goals. Our findings highlight the need to prioritize aquaculture policy toset more ambitious domestic production goals and/or improve sustainable sourcing of seafood from other parts of the world, with explicitrecognition and strategic planning for climate change affecting such decisions. In short, there is a need for greater concerted effort by ICES member nations to address aquaculture’s long-term future prospects.
Repository Name:
EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
Type:
Article
,
peerRev
Format:
application/pdf
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