Aquaculture: Who, What, Why and Why Not?

           As the world’s fisheries quickly diminish, several countries are looking to alternatives such as aquaculture to keep fish on their plates. Aquaculture is defined as “the cultivation of aquatic animals and plants, esp. fish, shellfish, and seaweed, in natural or controlled marine or freshwater environments; underwater agriculture.” Several countries including the United States, Japan and India to name a few, currently farm fish such as salmon and bluefin tuna.
            Fish are often caught in the ocean while still relatively young and small and brought to farms where they will be “fattened up.” They can also be raised from hatched eggs. The farms can consist of ponds or lakes as well as cages placed in the ocean or rivers. Many feel that farming fish in this manner will help alleviate the strain on the wild population, which is currently being intensely overfished.
           There are many criticisms for the farming fish such as the bluefin. The number of fish caught for fish farming may not be counted in the quotas placed on the fishing industries. This means that many more fish are being removed from the world’s fisheries than sustainably possible. Because fish like salmon and the bluefin tuna are very large and carnivorous, they require a large amount of fish for food. These feeder fish must be caught or raised as well, which raises questions about the sustainability of fish farming itself. In addition, farmed fish are often kept in tight quarters with one another, which can lead to parasites, infections and tissue damage. If the fish are kept in an open ocean environment, they may also transfer the infections to the wild populations. Antibiotics may be used to treat the fish but this means the drugs may be passed on to the person who sits down to enjoy a sushi dinner. Breeding is not met with good results as the bluefin prefer their natural habitat for breeding.
It seems that there are no shortcuts we can take here. The true way to save our world’s fisheries is to recognize the need to do so and change our fishing practices.

References:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aquaculture
http://www.pbs.org/emptyoceans/fts/tuna/index.html
http://www.scienceline.org/2008/03/07/env-locke-tuna/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_farming