UCHICAGO
The Growing Role of Aquaculture as a Food Source Matt Doiron
T
housands of years ago, humans in the Middle East made one of the most critical advances in the development of civilization: agriculture. Ancient agricultural practices increased the available food, fueling the growth of populations and the development of advanced societies and states. In modern times, agriculture has become so productive that only a small fraction of the population of developed countries need to work in the agricultural sector to generate sufficient food to feed the entire society. However, most agricultural practices have focused on the farming of terrestrial plants and animals; while there has always been some level of wild fishing for subsistence or commerce, only recently have industrial operations emerged to cultivate fish, shrimp, algae, and other sea life. Background Aquaculture is a term used to describe the intensive production of seafood analogous to that common for land animals that are eaten by people; fish, for example, are raised in captive tanks or pens connected to a water purification system, natural river, or the ocean. The fish are given food, antibiotics, and other inputs as they are raised until they have grown enough to be sold commercially. In 2004, aquaculture was responsible for 43% of global seafood production, or about 48 million tons (60 million tons if aquatic plants are counted) [1]. Of this total, nearly 31 million tons were produced in China. India, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia were the other countries that produced over 1 million tons of farmed seafood. The leading species harvested worldwide are carps, oysters, and other types of shellfish. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
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Administration places U.S. aquacultural output in the year 2005 at almost 790 million pounds (395 thousand tons), and at a dollar valuation of about $1.1 billion in 2005 dollars. The primary product is catfish, while one of the fastest growing products is salmon [2,3]. In addition, about 70% of annual U.S. seafood consumption is imported, with aquacultural products making up about half of this [2]. The high imports are partly because aquaculture has actually grown fairly slowly in the U.S., which ranks third in the world in seafood consumption, but only tenth in aquaculture production [1,2]. Within the U.S., Mississippi is the leading state for production followed by Arkansas and Florida [2]. Through aquaculture, global seafood volume can potentially be increased, which is important for the overall food supply and potentially for global nutrition as well, as seafood provides many health benefits in comparison to meat. Furthermore, increases in global wealth may lead to increased demand not only for food in general but for protein sources in particular, and an increased availability of fish can substitute for increased production of chicken, beef, pork, and other meats. Economic Factors The primary benefits of aquaculture are the increase in available calories and protein and the advantages of aquaculture compared to its primary substitutes: better nutrition than meat and producing less pressure on the environment than wild fish. Table 1 compares some important nutritional data on Atlantic salmon, catfish, chicken, pork, and steak. As shown in the table, some species contain more fat when they have been farmed than when caught in the wild. However,
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