Plans to expand aquaculture, where fish are farmed rather than caught in the wild, could result in nearly half of the world’s wild fish catch being ground into animal feed for farmed fish, according to a new report. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) aims to increase aquaculture production by 75% by 2040 as part of its “blue transformation” agenda.
An analysis by the Changing Markets Foundation found that these plans could potentially remove tens of millions of tonnes of fish from the oceans each year to feed species such as salmon and shrimp. Aquaculture already supplies over half of the aquatic animals consumed globally, with carnivorous farmed species often fed fishmeal and fish oil made from smaller wild fish like anchovies and sardines.
Modelling conducted with the University of British Columbia suggests that if current industry trends continue, up to 34.6m tonnes of wild fish could be caught annually by 2040 for farmed species. Under a scenario weighted towards feed-intensive species, demand for wild fish could rise to 41.4m tonnes, which is equivalent to 46% of the global wild-fish catch in 2020.
Tara Ganesh, a senior campaigner at Changing Markets Foundation, described the reliance on wild fish for feed as “absurd” and a “net loss of fish – a net loss of nutrition.” The report also highlights that safeguards addressing nutritional and food security effects were reportedly removed from drafts of the FAO’s guidelines for sustainable aquaculture.
The Changing Markets Foundation is urging the FAO to introduce safeguards that prioritise edible wild fish for human consumption and direct aquaculture growth towards species requiring little or no fishmeal or fish oil.