Fish Farming
What are the Current Issues with Fish Farming?
To produce one tonne of Salmon or such up to 2.5 tonnes of small wild fish like anchovies are caught to be reduced to fish oil and fish meal, a hugely unsustainable method. This amounts to up to 450 billion wild fish caught a year just to feed farmed fish, seems a little foolish, doesn’t it? We are taking more fish from the ocean to feed the fish to feed to humans than if we just fished the ocean in the first place.
To make the matters worse it is estimated to produce 1lb (0.45kg) of Bluefin Tuna it takes 26lbs (11.8kg) of fish meal made from reduction fish that are smaller open ocean fish, and to create 2.2lbs (1kg) of fish meal takes 10lbs (4.5kg) of those smaller pelagic fish so with these figures that can be 260lbs or 53.1kg for 1lb (0.45kg) of bluefin tuna!!
It was estimated that as far back as 2008 over 37% of all fish caught globally went into the manufacture of fish meal that went onto feed fish farms, pigs, and poultry this was the cause of the “reverse protein factory” phrase to be coined by American author Francis Moore Lappé whereby the protein input far outweighs the output.
There is a prediction from some scientists that by 2048 all sea fish species stocks will have collapsed from overfishing, currently around half of all fish eaten is farmed amounting to between 40-120 billion fish a year killed for human consumption.
Fish farming typically involves a lot of fish overcrowded into pens that can be on land, rivers, lake or the sea, Atlantic Salmon and rainbow trout are almost exclusively farmed, the other most farmed fish include carp, catfish, sea bass and tilapia. One of the biggest problems here is that any parasites, infection, or disease can easily propagate throughout the entire farm extremely easily.
A major problem from fish farms is wastewater and effluent being released in an uncontrolled manner into the surrounding open water. Waste products that include fish faeces, uneaten food and dead fish are often flushed without treatment into the surrounding ecosystem in addition to these effluents are persistent chemicals such as pesticides and antibiotics that are used to control infection in the stock of the pens, this uncontrolled release can affect the local habitats, including when infected fish escape the pens they can transmit disease or lice infestations to free-roaming fish or even worse they become an invasive species and completely change an existing ecosystem, and almost 100% of the time invasive species do not improve the area.
Many locations that house fish farms are also heavily polluted from agricultural run-off these problems that cause the contamination can be untreated sewage and industrial waste being released and also often includes agricultural run-off from farming that still employ the use of harmful persistent chemicals including, but not limited to pesticides, herbicides and fungicides these chemicals that can degrade on land do not degrade at the same speed in the water.
Due to excessive tilling of the soil and overuse, it can no longer resist heavy rainfall as a result what was once captured on land is allowed a direct entry into waterways, it is not only agricultural farming and crops that cause issues but the farming of animals as well, chicken farms are a huge problem because below a certain number they are not regulated in many countries so a small stretch of river can have a great many farms, and since there is no regulation there are no watchdogs ensuring pollution is controlled meaning effluent far above recommended amounts is uncontrollably released, often intentionally. This effluent causes a build-up of ammonia which can cause algal blooms that kill off indigenous wild species
What is BestStar Doing About the Problem?
BestStar is collaborating with several fish farms around the world to improve the overall quality of the fish produced from several fronts primarily by introducing a moringa diet of the fish reducing the need for the vast amounts of captured fish necessary for fish meal. This is being tracked as the changes are coming into effect, and to protect information exact figures are not being released at this time, however, what is being released is a comparative amount of alternative fish feed vs what would be the equivalent of wild-caught pelagic fish, we are however at an infancy stage in this process and convincing early adaptors to commit to a more sustainable and regenerative style and process for feeding farmed fish.
The BestStar method uses organic regenerative and truly sustainable techniques for reducing infection by disease and parasites such as lice that eat the skin and flesh. These are common reasons for fish farms to lose vast amounts of stock seemingly overnight, overcrowding of pens is one of the reasons for extremely fast transmission of disease amongst the fish, lice can often go undetected until the damage is done, and the infestation is seemingly in need of antibiotics or other persistent chemical methods for control, this is not a good plan. Overcrowding in the BestStar pens is reduced because of the use of an organic diet and correct management techniques, faster and more efficient circulation of water mean that there is no need to include a certain percentage of animals that would otherwise be classed as natural wastage – lost to disease, infection or bullying from bigger fish, which has the added benefit of less decomposing fish trapped within pens that also spread disease.
Solutions include using cleaner fish that will clean the stock-fish by eating the lice affecting them, such as wrasse at a 3-10% level in line with the stock levels, reducing overcrowding, using new improved monitoring techniques and efficient circulation of water within the pens. This means that a reduction in veterinary drugs can be realistically achieved, and the complete removal of harmful chemicals in pesticides can be eradicated by using alternative organic treatment methods, such as enzymes to combat infection. Nevertheless, with much healthier fish stocks, it becomes apparent that through proper maintenance, monitoring and caring techniques that there is less requirement for antibiotic or pest treatment due to the fish having strong immune systems that can easily overcome infection and disease, and become more resistant to any pests that previously were a severe threat.