What benefits does fish farming offer?
The first and most obvious benefit is that it provides a renewable source of seafood that can be increased to meet the demands of an increasing and increasingly affluent world population. This cannot be said for our natural fisheries. They are already at the limits of their sustainable yield. If harvesting is increased further, we will exhaust them and they will collapse. The only way that more fish can be provided is through fish farming. The second benefit is economic development. Fish farms mostly occur in rural and remote areas where jobs are scarce and where communities are struggling economically. Fish farming brings jobs in hatcheries, on the farms, in processing plants and in a whole range of supporting services such as trucking, general supply and equipment manufacture, and repair. In turn, these jobs provide the wealth to support secondary activities in communities such as schools, retail services and medical care. The European Community has specifically recognized the rural
