Fish Farming: Meeting the World´s Demand of Fish Supply

The film Salmon confidential had initially been released on October 2nd, 2013; Since then, the status of British Columbia fish farming may just have a promising future. For too long has the fish farming industry in British Columbia gotten away with destroying the population of wild salmon. Despite this, recently the fish farming industry has been running into problems that threaten the survival of their industry in British Columbia. Currently, there are 130 floating fish farms in British Columbia, all of these fish farms have been infected with contagious diseases that are spreading to other wild salmon that travel in these areas. The companies in change of the fish farming have been trying to hide the fact that their farms have caused a major

The earliest accounts of overfishing occurred in the 1800s, when the demand of whale blubber nearly wiped out the whale populations. In the mid 1900s, the harvesting of Atlantic cod, herring, and California sardines drove them to the brink of extinction. These high disruptions cause regional depletions of animal resources which is starting to cause a global problem. There has never been a more urgent time for fishing nations to make a commitment towards the sustainability of our oceans. More than 80% of the world’s fisheries have been, or are being pushed beyond their limits and are in dire need of strict management plans. Populations of fish and elasmobranch fish such as tuna, grouper and sharks have been declining to the point where the survival

Overfishing is a global issue that has many negative effects on the environment (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2009). Fish are a major resource that many people rely on for not only nutrition, but also for a means of income (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2009). As the population of the world increases, so does the demand for fish, which puts oceans under a lot of pressure (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2009). Due to advanced fishing technologies and equipment, going out further into the oceans and catching huge amounts of fish is easier than ever (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2009). Froese (2004) defines overfishing as capturing the fish before they reach their full growth potential and diminishing their chance of reproduction. In other

Salmon has been a highly demanded product by millions of customers as well as the countries who rely on seafood as a primary dish. However, with the influx of people’s wants come the consequences of these species are decreasing in populations around the world due to the causes and practices of human fishing. As stated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), there were an estimated 50% decline worldwide of salmon over the last twenty years. Several sources play a factor in the huge amounts of salmon being depleted including overfishing, loss of habitat, and even dams. Since the late 1900s, other ways of reversing what was happening to populations were being proposed and one new technical approach to re-populate the salmon fish exponentially was known as salmon farming, but the process brought more problems to the salmon species then there were good.

The ocean makes up nearly three-quarters of the planet 's surface and contains about eighty percent of the life on earth. Millions of people all over the world depend on seafood heavily as a primary source of food. Americans alone consumed as much as 15.8 pounds of seafood per person in 2009 (NOAA). This is a lot of fish. In fact, it is so much that many populations of fish are going extinct. At this particular rate according to National Geographic, scientist predict that the earth is expected to lose all of its current fisheries by the year 2048 (Roach). The overfishing of our oceans leads to unmanageable practices that will eventually cause many species of fish to become extinct.

Overfishing has been challenged by the rise of fish farming, or aquaculture, which allows popular fish such as salmon to be raised on farms. Aquaculture does help prevent the depletion of wild populations at an unsustainable rate, although the practice has its own issues. The process of raising fish on a farm raises ethical and hygienic questions, due to the fact that farmed fish normally grow up and live in cramped tanks or ponds their entire lives, and if not well-maintained, such environments can become filled with fish excretions, bacteria, and diseases that can then infect the fish. This issue is not present among wild-caught fish, which reside in large bodies of water or rivers that prevent a similar health and safety risk for people consuming the

In recent years Pacific salmon have felt the true burdens of the aquaculture productions of farmed salmon in the natural rivers that have hosted these salmon for centuries. Salmon farming has been on the rise since the early 1990s and over these twenty-five years, it has put an immense amount of pressure on the wild salmon population and their ability to spawn. These negative impacts can be directly link to numerous problems with farmed salmon, which includes the pollution and contamination they produce to nearby water sources. Next, is the dilemma that farmed Salmon have is the negative affect they have on migrating wild Salmon. Their interaction can causes diseases to spread to wild pacific salmon while they swim close to the farms during their seasonal runs. Another major concern with disturbance is the interbreeding between farmed salmon and wild salmon. The final problem, is the health risks that are associated with consuming higher concentrations of possible toxic and carcinogenic contaminant often found in farmed salmon meat. The act of raising salmon in a aquaculture environment can be detrimental to the ecosystem and humans of BC, because of the pollution, contamination, disturbance farmed salmon have on wild salmon and more importantly, the health risks aquaculture has on humans.

According to a study done by Living Planet Report in 2015, 29% of the world’s fishing stocks are considered overfished and an additional 61% is fully exploited with no possibility to produce more fish. Our environment is currently afflicted by a number of different problems, one of which is overfishing. Overfishing is defined by FishOnline as, “Fishing with a sufficiently high intensity to reduce the breeding stock levels to such an extent that they will no longer support a sufficient quantity of fish for sport or commercial harvest.” The overfishing situation is being exacerbated by non-sustainable and destructive fishing practices and unfair fisheries partnership agreements; while there are currently attempts being made at fixing these problems and their effects on overfishing, nothing has been extremely effective.

Delgado, C. L., Wada, N., Rosegrant, M. W., Meijer, S., & Ahmed, M. (2003). Fish to 2020: supply and demand in changing global markets. Retrieved from http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pubs/books/fish2020/oc44.pdf

The Food and Agriculture Organization is of the United Nations; their mission is to eliminate hunger internationally. Stated by Maanvi Singh, a reporter from National Public Radio, “According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, fish now accounts for almost 17 percent of the world's intake of protein — in some coastal and island countries it's as high as 70 percent” (qtd. Singh). Aquaculture is rising at a surprisingly fast rate while our fisheries are decreasing rapidly. We need to find a way to produce more fish in a way that won’t destroy the environment; sustainable fresh water fishing may be the answer. Sustainable fresh water fishery is when a targeted species’ population

Another global effect of overfishing is fish farming or aquaculture. It was first started to help preserve the ocean and hoped to help people to obtain a reliable fish source. Unfortunately, what many came to realize is the downside of fish farming. One example is water contamination, where consequently waste products such as foods eaten, feces and other dead fish, are all dumped into our main water supply which contributes to water pollution. Moreover, chemicals that are used to treat the fish farms like antibiotics and algaecides are all released into the ocean; which is a real cause for concern for our oceans. Fish that come from the fish farms are pumped full of drugs, to prevent sickness in the fish but this is not healthy for us to eat. There is also a great environmental impact which includes the fact that to sustain fish farms, portions of

Many breeds of fish are being captured at a faster rate than they can reproduce. Some species such as orange roughy fishing became popular in New Zealand in the 1970’s. Over time, it spread to many countries around the world. In the last 20 years, there has been a decline in catch up to 75%. It is no longer common to see in grocery stores as well as restaurants. The amounts of fish that are captured and distributed around the world are alarming opposed to the rate the fish can multiply.

In order for there to be plenty of fish in the years ahead, fisheries will have to develop sustainable fisheries and some will have to close. Due to the constant increase in the human population, the oceans have been overfished with a resulting decline of fish crucial to the economy and communities of the world. The control of the world's fisheries is a controversial subject, as they cannot produce enough to satisfy the demand, especially when there aren't enough fish left to breed in healthy ecosystems. Scientists are often in the role of fisheries managers and must regulate the amount of fishing in the oceans, a position not popular with those who have to make a living fishing ever decreasing populations.

According to the United Nations, 17% of fish stocks worldwide are currently overexploited; 52% are fully exploited; and 7% are depleted. This means that only an estimated 20% of worldwide fish stocks are not already at or above their capacity(Seafarms, 2013). Catches of Pacific herring have decreased by 71% since the 1960s, with Atlantic herring catches falling by 63%. Atlantic Cod catches have fallen by 69% in the same time(Seafarms, 2013). These are just a few of many facts and statistics on the topic of overfishing. The effects of these statistics and facts impact people’s and animal's lives around the

In today’s global economy sustainability is very important; from the biological aspect to the industries they all play a role on the marine environment. As world population increases the demand of fish rises causing overfishing. Certain laws have been placed to limit the amount of wild fishing to reduce the risk of endangerment. To meet the demand of the population, fish farms are introduced. Pollution and health related issues are part of the challenges of fish farming. Sustainability also affects social areas such as beaches.