Half of Fish Consumption Attributed to Aquaculture, Study Finds

Production of farmed fish has nearly tripled in volume since 1995 and aquaculture now provides 50 percent of the fish consumed globally, according to a new study. The study said that while aquaculture does provide some environmental benefits, the quantity of fishmeal and fish oil needed to produce the feed for carnivorous farmed fish — such as Atlantic salmon — is extracting a heavy toll on smaller species such as sardines and anchovies. Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study said that the feed for aquaculture fish now consumes 68 percent of the fishmeal and 88 percent of the fish oil produced globally. The authors recommended that fish oil used in fish feed be reduced and replaced with omega-3 oils extracted from algae or genetically modified land plants. The authors said that a four percent reduction in the fish oil used in salmon feed would cut the amount of wild fish needed to produce one pound of salmon from five pounds to 3.9 pounds. The study also encouraged greater development of fish farms raising tilapia, carp, and other fish with a vegetarian diet.