Can farmed fish feed the world?

Aquaculture is the farming of marine organisms. One of the largest types of aquaculture or aquafarming occurs with salmon. Salmon are raised either on land in large pens or in the floating cages. Aquaculture is typically thought of as destructive to the rest of nature and is frowned upon my many individuals. However, in an article written by Josh Ozersky called “How I Learned to Love Farmed Fish”, he argues that aquaculture is a good thing.

Ozersky’s main argument is that aquaculture is the only way to save the worlds’ oceans.

“But the fact is that, whether through DNA modification, artificial insemination, antibiotics or any other technique, high-tech aquaculture is the only way to save the planet's marine life.” (Ozersky, 2010)

The fact is that this is definitely not the only option to solve the worldwide problem of declining fish populations. Ozersky quotes Martin Schreibman, a biologist at the City University of New York, who said, "We don't have a choice anymore." The truth is, however, that we actually do have a choice still. Although, according to Nature, 90 % of marine wildlife will cease to exist by 2048, there is still an opportunity now to save many species including the salmon. Ozersky did not mention any alternatives to the declining populations in the ocean. Putting limits on the number of fish that can be caught each year could significantly help populations. In Alaska, the Halibut population has been very low in the past years. But recently, new and stricter limits were put into place an

d scientists have noticed a rise in numbers. This is a very easy way to help populations rebuild and it does not involve any aquaculture or fish farms.

Another method to help increase marine populations is to create more protected areas in the oceans. These areas should be off limit to any sort of fishing. Today there are around 4000 ocean reserves, but it only accounts for around .6% of the total oceans area. This means that 99.4% of the ocean is fishable. This is why marine populations are declining. Fishing vessels have little or no restrictions on where and when they can fish. Making ocean reserves has been proven very effective in places, like the Bahamas, and could work to help the salmon populations recovery as well.

Genetically modified salmon (rear) vs. natural salmon (front)

Another claim that Ozersky made was that there is nothing wrong with altering food to make it [the food] grow better. He states “There are no black Angus cows grazing in the wild; they're the product of breeding for size, marbling and fast growth, not unlike the genetically modified salmon.” (Ozersky, 2010) Really, Ozersky is trying to say that there is nothing wrong with genetically modified foods. However, this cannot be considered 100% true. GM crops have been the main issue in many heated arguments in the last few years. Most people consider genetically modifying food not only wrong, but also very dangerous. Their effects are not yet fully known but many predict negative consequences. Ozersky has no references or examples (other than Angus beef) to show that nothing is wrong with altering food to make it grow better. His argument is not very strong.

Ozersky also claims that the farmed salmon will not escape and affect any other species. He states “The genetically modified salmon aren't going to jump into the rivers and take over native ecosystems; they're bred inland, in tanks; even if one engineered a Finding Nemo-style escape to the open ocean, it couldn't do anything, since they're all bred to be sterile.” (Ozersky, 2010) The problem with this is that there is not that many inland tanks compared to the amount of open-net cages in the ocean. Ozersky is trying to make the farming of salmon seem a lot more environmentally friendly by presenting a method of aquaculture that is rarely used. Salmon farms that are located in the open ocean have already created huge problems for the salmon. Just one example is the salmon in the Fraser River. Fifty years ago over 100 million salmon travelled up the river, and in recent years less than 1 million travel the distance. (Suzuki, 2010) This is because of all the open-net salmon farms located on the west coast of Canada.

Ozersky seems to have a very anthropocentric viewpoint. He does not recognize the moral standing or intrinsic value of any non-human things. He looks at salmon as only a source of food and for nothing else. In his article he does not talk about any negative impacts of the fish farms. He views it as just another way to get salmon. He says, “it will help stave off a food-scarcity crisis larger than any the world has ever known.” (Ozersky, 2010) In my opinion this statement is definitely not true and has no references or back up statistics. Salmon and most fish are carnivores and therefore eat meat – mostly fish. Fish that are farmed are usually fed fish pellets. It takes 2-5 pounds of fish pellets to produce 1 pound of salmon for human consumption. (Animal Feed Responsible For One-Third Of World’s Fish Catch, 2010) This means that by using aquaculture we are actually adding to the food-scarcity problem and not helping it. Aquaculture is not sustainable at all and will not help solve the problem of declining fish populations and lack of food. Simply, the only way that fish populations will bounce back is if we stop killing them.

In Josh Ozersky’s article called “How I Learned to Love Farmed Fish”, he expresses his opinion on aquaculture and the effects it may have. In my opinion Ozersky does a very poor job at delivering his argument. He does not use any references and few, if any, statistics. Many of his claims seem to be created by himself, in fact much of what he says seems to be opposite to the truth. Ozersky’s article does not show the true effects of aquaculture and it is a poor representation of the issue at hand.

Peter Dickson

References

"Animal Feed Responsible For One-Third Of World’s Fish Catch - Science News - RedOrbit." RedOrbit – Science, Space, Technology, Health News and Information. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1594702/animal_feed_responsible_for_onethird_of_worlds_fish_catch/

By. "How I Learned to Love Farmed Salmon - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2015134,00.html

Clover, Charles. The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat. New York: New, 2006. Print.

Suzuki, By David. "David Suzuki: With Fraser River Sockeye Salmon, Seeing Red Is Cause for Cautious Celebration | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com." Home | Straight.com. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. http://www.straight.com/article-344924/vancouver/david-suzuki-fraser-river-sockeye-salmon-seeing-red-cause-cautious-celebration