March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Angling for new food source

Visit the supermarket and you may wince at the prices of shrimp, scallops, and certain other seafood. The consumer price index for fish has outpaced that of other foods, largely because consumer demand has grown faster than the supply.

But suppose there were a way to increase the supply significantly. Shopper might get lower prices. Fishing crews, many of which are hurting financially, would get more business. It’s a great idea, except that the world’s prime fishing grounds already are at or near their maximum sustainable yields. So where would more fish come from?

We should raise them ourselves. That is what the United States does for other foods, from beef to broccoli, better than any other country. Yet, although the average American eats 24 percent more fish than a decade ago, we still produce most fish essentially as we have for centuries, by catching what nature provides.

A National Research Council committee, which I chaired, concluded recently that it is possible to supplement natural yields dramatically by raising finfish, shellfish, crustaceans, and seaweeds. Some nations do so with great success. Unless we start doing the same, and soon, we risk losing this lucrative market, just as we have fallen behind in the production of textiles, consumer electronics, and other goods. Learning to raise fish would help us enhance natural fisheries.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, world fish production in 1988 was 98 million metric tons. Of the 75 million metric tons consumed directly by people, nearly one of every five fish was provided by aquaculture.

This impressive percentage has been growing abroad. But for all of its scientific know-how, the United States contributes just 2 percent of the world’s aquaculture production. China is the leader with nearly half of the total. The vast majority of U.S. marine aquaculture production is devoted to a single shellfish — oysters.

Freshwater farming of catfish, crayfish, trout, and other species has expanded rapidly in the United States. In some parts of the country these products are now common. Not so with fish farming in saltwater. Barriers to marine aquaculture have been the high value of ocean and coastal space; environmental concerns about animal and feedstock wastes and about the transfer of diseases with wild stocks; and objections by some boaters and fishermen to net or cage installations. Other people say the installations are unsightly.

All of these concerns are solvable, however, and there are large benefits in pushing ahead with marine aquaculture where appropriate. Expanding our efforts in this field could create new jobs, provide a reliable source of seafood, augment threatened fisheries and fish species, and reduce our dependence on imported seafood.

Private companies and entrepreneurs in the United States cannot accomplish this on their own. Our committee concluded that their efforts are being constrained by a regulatory and policy framework that is far too complex and restrictive, and by knowledge and technology that remain too limited.

Suppose you want to begin raising fish offshore. Not only do you need to meet the usual business needs of obtaining financing and the like, but you also must comply with federal, state, and regional rules that are unclear. Getting a permit can be costly and time consuming. You must assemble the necessary knowledge, skills, and technology. It’s no wonder many aspiring entrepreneurs simply give up or go bankrupt.

The permit process must be clarified and streamlined. People who want to undertake marine aquaculture should not face a regulatory maze. Making marine aquaculture a recognized use of the Coastal Zone Management Act, for instance, would stimulate states to include the raising of fish in their coastal management plans.

A modest national research program could provide better methods for raising fish in an environmentally sustainable fashion. Creation of an expanded biological and engineering knowledge base would spur businesses from Maine to Hawaii.

In other words, with a little more scientific and bureaucratic support and a little less red tape, we could ease the pressure on fragile ocean fishing areas while satisfying consumers nationwide. As the demand for fish grows, so must the supply. Mother Nature alone cannot provide all of the fish that consumers want. It’s time we woke up and smelled the chowder.

Robert B. Fridley, Ph.D., executive associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the Univeristy of California, Davis, chaired a National Research Council committee that studied marine aquaculture.


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