Start Research
Showing 1 - 21 of 21 search results for:
All
All
News
Sept 04 - 2012
EN Europe
Record Algae Blooms Linked to Fish Farms
The Fish Site
IRELAND - Record toxic algae blooms continue to close shellfish harvesting in the south west of Ireland are caused in part by the waste from fish farms. The local action group set up to oppose the expansion of fish farming, Save Bantry Bay, has drawn attention to the fact that fish farms are responsible for far more nitrogen and phosphorous in our coastal waters than sewage from major towns.
See more
Investigative Journalism
Nov 04 - 2024
EN Europe
Estonia's small but meaty mussels could help generate revenue while cleaning up the Baltic
ERR
In addition to trout farming, Estonia has potential to develop a separate industry for cultivating edible mussels. A study conducted by Estonian marine scientists on Saaremaa indicates that while the local mussel is smaller than its Swedish counterpart, it contains more meat. However, questions remain on how to maximize the value of mussel production and establish a profitable market for it. By Airika Harrik
See more
Research
Dec 23 - 2021
EN Global
Sustainable Growth of Non-Fed Aquaculture Will Generate Valuable Ecosystem Benefits
Ecosystem Services
Investment in extractive or ‘non-fed’ aquaculture has been proposed as a partial solution for sustainable food provision. An important aspect is the potential for aquaculture-environment interactions to influence the provision of ecosystem services. Here, we quantify and monetise the impacts of bivalve and seaweed farming on a regulating service (removal of nitrogen from nearshore waters) and a supporting service (habitat provision for species with fisheries value).
Research
Jan 01 - 2019
EN North America
U.S. Commercial Fisheries and the Seafood Industry Landings and Values, 2019
NOAA
Infographics supporting the annual Fisheries of the United States report, a yearbook of fisheries statistics for the nation providing data on commercial landings and value and recreational catch.
See more
Research
Jan 01 - 2022
EN North America
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
A 2022 special report from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, examining the threat of harmful algal bloom growth and the actions being taken to address it.
See more
Research
Feb 22 - 2011
EN Europe
Does fish farming impact on tourism in Scotland?
Aquaculture Research
Aquaculture is an important industry for rural Scotland, in particular for the west coast and the islands. Tourism is also important to Scotland’s economy and depends heavily on the country’s landscape. Targeted research was undertaken to assess whether fish farming impacts tourism in coastal areas of Scotland. This was accomplished through face-to-face interviews with tourists and telephone interviews with tourism-related businesses and aquaculture businesses at three case study locations: Outer Hebrides, Shetland and Oban and Mull. A large percentage of respondents (87% of 120 people surveyed) had seen fish farming before, although half of them had not seen fish farming at the case study location. Respondents were asked to consider how the current levels of fish farming affected their perception of the area, impact on scenery, natural environment, recreational activities and willingness to revisit based on a scale from strongly negative, slightly negative, no affect/neutral, slightly positive, strongly positive or do not know. The majority of respondents stated that current levels of fish farming had no effect on the aforementioned parameters. When asked to consider further development or expansion of fish farming, visitors remained neutral to all, except for the impact on the scenery and the natural environment, where approximately half of the responses were negative. This research provides qualitative evidence that the current levels and future developments or expansion of aquaculture operations will not affect visitors’ willingness to revisit the case study sites or affect their key recreational activities.
See more
Research
Sept 15 - 2024
EN Global
Environmental performance of blue foods
Nature
Fish and other aquatic foods (blue foods) present an opportunity for more sustainable diets1,2. Yet comprehensive comparison has been limited due to sparse inclusion of blue foods in environmental impact studies3,4 relative to the vast diversity of production5. Here we provide standardized estimates of greenhouse gas, nitrogen, phosphorus, freshwater and land stressors for species groups covering nearly three quarters of global production. We find that across all blue foods, farmed bivalves and seaweeds generate the lowest stressors. Capture fisheries predominantly generate greenhouse gas emissions, with small pelagic fishes generating lower emissions than all fed aquaculture, but flatfish and crustaceans generating the highest. Among farmed finfish and crustaceans, silver and bighead carps have the lowest greenhouse gas, nitrogen and phosphorus emissions, but highest water use, while farmed salmon and trout use the least land and water. Finally, we model intervention scenarios and find improving feed conversion ratios reduces stressors across all fed groups, increasing fish yield reduces land and water use by up to half, and optimizing gears reduces capture fishery emissions by more than half for some groups. Collectively, our analysis identifies high-performing blue foods, highlights opportunities to improve environmental performance, advances data-poor environmental assessments, and informs sustainable diets.
By Jessica A. Gephart, Patrik J. G. Henriksson, Robert W. R. Parker, Alon Shepon, Kelvin D. Gorospe, Kristina Bergman, Gidon Eshel, Christopher D. Golden, Benjamin S. Halpern, Sara Hornborg, Malin Jonell, Marc Metian, Kathleen Mifflin, Richard Newton, Peter Tyedmers, Wenbo Zhang, Friederike Ziegler & Max Troell
See more
Paywall on this site
Investigative Journalism
Oct 29 - 2024
EN Global
Farmed salmon falls short in addressing global food security, NYU study finds
Undercurrent News
Researchers have found that species that are more challenging and costly to farm contribute the least to global food security.
By Liza Mayer
See more
Opinion
May 02 - 2024
EN Global
Dark Seas – the muddy truth behind farmed fish
Sustainable Woodstock
Widely unknown to the public, carnivorous fish farming requires and consumes more wild fish than it produces, a fact that directly contradicts the industry’s claim to be the solution to overfishing and feeding the growing population.
See more
Podcast
Sept 26 - 2024
EN Global
How to Maximize Aquaculture: Growing More Seafood Through Science
NOAA Fisheries
Scientists are using an ecosystem approach to aquaculture, growing multiple seafood products together in a sustainable system.
See more
Research
Nov 12 - 2024
EN Global
Social benefits and environmental performance of aquaculture need to improve worldwide
Communications Earth & Environment
As a crucial source of protein for humans, aquaculture provides societal benefits but also poses environmental costs making it pivotal to strike a balance between costs and benefits to ensure aquaculture sustainability. Here we developed a composite sustainability index integrating societal benefits and environmental costs of aquaculture. The results show that two-fifths of the 161 countries achieved a high sustainability score (score > 50) in 2018, indicating a considerable need for improvement in the sustainability of aquaculture worldwide. This was particularly true for Asian countries (average score 45.01 ± 11.44), while European countries outperformed other regions (60.15 ± 13.64). Moreover, a Boosted Regression Tree model revealed that 59.3% of the variance in aquaculture sustainability was supported by eight indicators, including social factors, geographical effects, and aquaculture structures. By focusing on bivalve production and maintaining an optimized choice of fishes and shrimp taxa, the sustainability of global aquaculture could be enhanced.
By Congjun Xu, Guohuan Su, Sébastien Brosse, Kangshun Zhao, Min Zhang & Jun Xu
See more
Investigative Journalism
Aug 24 - 2020
EN Global
Taking the Fish Out of Fish Feed
Hakai Magazine
Feeding wild fish to farmed fish is threatening marine ecosystems. Researchers and entrepreneurs believe they’ve found solutions.
See more
Research
Oct 16 - 2024
EN Global
Aquaculture could harm animal welfare or protect it, depending on what species the farms raise
The Conversation
The rapid growth in aquaculture means that billions of individual aquatic animals are now being farmed without basic information that could help ensure even minimal welfare standards. Our newly published study shows that these welfare risks are not uniform: Aquaculture is likely to have severe effects on welfare for some species, but negligible impacts on others.
By Becca Franks, Chiawen Chiang
See more
Research
Oct 01 - 2015
EN Global
The Four Fish We're Overeating - and What to Eat Instead
TED Talks
The way we fish for popular seafood such as salmon, tuna and shrimp is threatening to ruin our oceans. Paul Greenberg explores the sheer size and irrationality of the seafood economy, and suggests a few specific ways we can change it, to benefit both the natural world and the people who depend on fishing for their livelihoods.
See more
Research
Jan 01 - 2023
EN Europe
Rethinking EU Aquaculture: For People, Animals and the Planet
Compassion in World Farming
Why the EU aquaculture industry should move away from intensive fish farming, towards extensive systems that are more sustainable and better for the environment.
See more
Research
Jun 01 - 2010
EN Europe
Fishy Formula - Why the European Strategy Does Not Add Up to Sustainable Aquaculture
Food & Water Europe
The proposed benefits of increased food production via open water aquaculture (increased food production and job creation) are challenged by the darker side of the practice, including environmental damage, endangerment of wild populations, rampant use of antibiotics and harmful chemicals, job instability, and reliance on fish meal from wild populations. Investment in more sustainable forms of aquaculture, such as land-based recirculating aquaculture, small-scale shellfish aquaculture, and artisanal fishing and tourism would better serve communities.
See more
Investigative Journalism
Jun 26 - 2023
EN North America
At sea as on land? Activists oppose industrial farming in U.S. waters
Mongabay
Agribusiness giants and other corporate interests are pushing to expand industrial finfish aquaculture into U.S. federal waters, arguing that it will help feed a growing global demand for seafood and have less environmental impact. They want Congress to pass legislation establishing a federal aquaculture system. Though Congress has not yet acted, a 2020 Executive Order is favorable to the effort. Environmental advocates are fighting against proposed congressional bills, and calling for a reversal of the executive order and a stop to the proposed projects in U.S. federal waters.
See more
Opinion
Aug 11 - 2024
EN Global
Too Much of Our Seafood Has a Dark Secret
New York Times
Explores the factors a consumer should consider when purchasing seafood.
See more
Research
May 01 - 2019
EN Europe
Safeguarding Marine Protected Areas in the Growing Mediterranean Blue Economy
PHAROS4MPAS
Recommendations for aquaculture https://pharos4mpas.interreg-med.eu
See more
Research
Jan 01 - 2018
EN Global
The Dangers of Industrial Ocean Fish Farming
Friends of the Earth
Many people opt for seafood over terrestrially-raised meat because they want better nutrition, a more humane option, and a smaller environmental impact. However, not all seafood is created equal. Much of our available seafood has been mass-raised and harvested in indus- trial ocean farms, pumped with agricultural drugs and pesticides, and provided feed comprised of overfished
species, GMOs, and filler ingredients such as corn. In other words, the salmon on your plate could very well be unhealthy, inhumane, and unsustainable.
Thankfully not all seafood production methods are bad, and you can continue to feel good about the fish you eat. There are many sustainable ways to produce seafood, including land-based recirculating farms, ocean-based farms utilizing entire water columns, and even some wild-caught fisheries.
See more
Research
Jan 01 - 2010
EN Global
The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture highlights the major role and challenges facing fisheries and aquaculture worldwide.
See more