Does aquaculture add resilience to the global food system?

Abstract

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food sector and continues to expand alongside terrestrial crop and livestock production. Using portfolio theory as a conceptual framework, we explore how current interconnections between the aquaculture, crop, livestock, and fisheries sectors act as an impediment to, or an opportunity for, enhanced resilience in the global food system given increased resource scarcity and climate change. Aquaculture can potentially enhance resilience through improved resource use efficiencies and increased diversification of farmed species, locales of production, and feeding strategies. However, aquaculture's reliance on terrestrial crops and wild fish for feeds, its dependence on freshwater and land for culture sites, and its broad array of environmental impacts diminishes its ability to add resilience. Feeds for livestock and farmed fish that are fed rely largely on the same crops, although the fraction destined for aquaculture is presently small (∼4%). As demand for high-value fed aquaculture products grows, competition for these crops will also rise, as will the demand for wild fish as feed inputs. Many of these crops and forage fish are also consumed directly by humans and provide essential nutrition for low-income households. Their rising use in aquafeeds has the potential to increase price levels and volatility, worsening food insecurity among the most vulnerable populations. Although the diversification of global food production systems that includes aquaculture offers promise for enhanced resilience, such promise will not be realized if government policies fail to provide adequate incentives for resource efficiency, equity, and environmental protection.food portfolio management | crop resources | diversity | shocks | global change

Technical inefficiency of Vietnamese pangasius farming: A data envelopment analysis

“…According to Anh et al (2010), redundant feed contributes most to the generation of waste sludge in pangasius production. Moreover, the market for cheap white fish products, such as pangasius, is competitive because many possible substitutes are available (CBI, 2015;Little et al, 2012;Troell et al, 2014). Vietnamese pangasius products have gained a large market share in international markets because of their relatively low price (Bush & Belton, 2011).…”

Dynamic Interactions among Boundaries and the Expansion of Sustainable Aquaculture

“…There is broad consensus that realistic, science-based models are paramount and urgently needed to assist and guide future policy development, helping to move aquaculture beyond simple objectives (e.g., such as conservation or employment; Bostock et al, 2010). Our conceptual model provides a unique framework to identify sustainable paths for growth and its boundaries, departing from approaches to sustainability based solely on regulations, technological advance or increased system efficiency (Bostock et al, 2010;Troell et al, 2015).…”

“…A technological advancement intended to improve the biomass productivity of a species, and thus expand the biology boundary (e.g., the development and use of chemicals to control parasites or disease in cultivated species) can have a detrimental effect on the societal preferences (i.e., market) boundary, with a reduced market demand for any seafood perceived to be contaminated by such chemicals and the ensuing regulatory demands that such public perceptions may trigger (Tveterås, 2002). Similarly, increased demand of aqua-feed requires ingredients, such as small pelagic fishes of low market value or, increasingly, agricultural commodities, which creates social and environmental conflicts (Cao et al, 2015;Troell et al, 2015). If any boundary contracts too far and crosses the sustainability threshold (center of Figure 1A), then the location of other boundaries will not matter, just as if the market for aquaculture disappears or a policy prohibits aquaculture, an otherwise FIGURE 1 | The illustration in (A) depicts the four dimensions of the social-ecological system that supports aquaculture and ultimately define the boundaries of sustainable production.…”

Aquaculture: a rapidly growing and significant source of sustainable food? Status, transitions and potential

“…The costs of alternatives and the risks associated with investment at the necessary scale are the key constraints to the use of these types of ingredient (71) . Critiques of aquaculture frequently label it as a high-impact food sector but farmed seafood typically shares supply chains for feed ingredients with terrestrial livestock and actually consumes little more than 4 % of the total used (1) . Life cycle assessments underline the importance of feed to the overall environmental impacts, including freshwater, land and greenhouse gas emissions for all livestock, fed-aquaculture included (37,(73)(74)(75)(76)(77) to an extent that in many cases food conversion ratios may be used as crude indicators of environmental impact.…”