The third webinar of the Big Fish series was held on 30th March 2021 on the theme “Is Aquaculture Breaking into The Global Food System?” The event was co-hosted by the Institute of Aquaculture and Stanford University’s Center on Food Security and the Environment. The presentation and discussions were based on a recent publication in Nature reviewing the progress made by global aquaculture over the past 20 years. This was led by Professor Roz Naylor who was lead author on an influential study in 2000 on the sustainability of the fed aquaculture sector.

Aquatic food consumption has doubled in the last 50 years facilitated by fish farming and in 2018 156 million tonnes ended up on consumers plates. Global aquatic food production includes fish, crustaceans, molluscs and algae and is an essential part of the Global Food System to ensure a secure food supply to meet a growing population. continued growth in freshwater aquaculture volume and value chains.

The review identifies three main patterns of development in aquaculture development over the 20 years:

continued growth in freshwater aquaculture volume and value chains.
advances in fish nutrition, genetics, and alternative feeds that reduce the use of wild fish in aquafeed formulations.
expanded culture of extractive bivalves and seaweeds with potential to provide a wide range of food, industrial, and ecosystem services.

These findings were discussed by the panellists: Ling Cao (Associate professor in the School of Oceanography at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Philippa Cohen (Research Leader at WorldFish), Fernando O. Mardones (Assistant Professor, Veterinary Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University, Santiago of Chile), Michèle Stark (Founder and director of Seafood Advisory Ltd.) and Jose Villalon (Corporate Sustainability Director at Nutreco).

A full report on the event can be found on the Big Fish Website

Banner image credit: "Endless Seaweed Farms - Xiapu, China" by virtualwayfarer is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0