Do fish farms really add to the worlds supply of fish?
Smoked salmon, garlic prawns, grilled seabass. Our insatiable appetite for such delicacies has contributed to a sharp reduction in ocean fish populations. Throughout the world, a growing number of commercial boats are returning with empty nets unable to find enough catch to keep pace with the international demand for seafood. FARMED SALMON: This Atlantic salmon was raised on a fish farm along the coast of New Brunswick, Canada. The average farmed salmon is more than 20% bigger than a decade ago, thanks to the increased use of feed made from herring and other small fish. But harvesting wild fish to feed farmed fish threatens ocean fisheries around the world. (courtesy Rebecca J. Goldburg) But while ocean fisheries are in decline, commercial fish farming or aquaculture is booming. Farmers now produce more than one-fourth of all the finfish and shellfish directly consumed by people worldwide. This rapid rise in aquaculture production “is a mixed blessing, however, for the sustainability o
