Aquaculture America 2014

Aquaculture America 2014: How do we grow the Aquaculture industry in the U.S.?
By Dave Landkamer, Sea Grant Aquaculture Extension Specialist http://tinyurl.com/p5ho4p8

Aquaculture America 2014:

How do we grow the

Aquaculture industry in the

U.S.?

By Dave Landkamer, Sea Grant Aquaculture

Extension Specialist

More than 2,000 aquaculture stakeholders from

around the world gathered together at the Washington

State Convention Center in Seattle last month for the

annual Aquaculture America (2014) Conference, to

meet with industry friends and to catch up on what’s

happening in the world of aquatic farming.

As a seafood mecca, Seattle is an ideal place to

have a serious discussion about delicious seafood in

general and farmed seafood in particular. Most

Americans are not aware of how important aquaculture

is to our seafood supply. In 2012, for the first time in

world history, more edible seafood was produced on

farms worldwide than was harvested from the wild. In

the United States, 91% of the seafood we ate as a nation

in 2012 was imported, and more than half of that was

from aquaculture farms in other countries. Of the top

ten leading seafoods eaten in the U.S., six come mostly

from farms; shrimp, salmon, tilapia, catfish, Pangasius

(Asian catfish, such as basa and swai), and clams. Other

leading farmed seafoods include trout, oysters, hybrid

striped bass, cobia, mussels, and freshwater prawns.

Aquaculture has been the fastest growing food

production sector worldwide over the past two decades,

with an annual growth rate of over 8% per year. If this

growth rate continues, as it is expected to do, total

aquaculture production will surpass wild capture

harvest worldwide by 2030 or sooner. (Aquaculture

production for human food already exceeds seafood

from wild capture; much of the wild harvest goes into

fishmeals and oils for aquaculture, livestock, and pet

feeds.) Aquaculture is a vital protein source in

developing countries around the world, but it is also a

leading supplier of high quality seafoods in developed

countries such as the U.S.

However, aquaculture in the U.S. has grown much

more slowly than the growth rate in the rest of the

world. Of the nearly 60 million metric tonnes

harvested from aquaculture farms worldwide in 2010,

only 0.5 miliion tonnes, or about 0.8% of the total was

grown on farms in the U.S. Our domestic aquaculture

production has grown only 2.9 times over the past

three decades, while it has increased nearly 13 times

across the globe in that same time period. Some

countries have experienced much more rapid growth.

For example, China’s production grew 28 times

between 1980 and 2010, while Norway’s grew an

amazing 126 times.

We are already harvesting the most we can from

our well-managed wild fisheries in the U.S., while

many capture fisheries stocks around the globe are

overharvested and declining. Yet, we still import most

of our seafood to satisfy our nations demand; last year

the U.S. passed Japan to become the second leading

importer of seafood (behind China) in the world. In

2012, our trade deficit in edible seafood was a

staggering $11 billion, and growing each year.

The chart on the next page shows the relative

aquaculture production of the top 13 countries in the

world, and the relative sizes of their water and land

resources. While the U.S. has more resources by far

than any of the other countries, we produce much less

from aquaculture. Yet, we are content to import over

91% of the seafood we eat in this country.

If we want to reduce our seafood-related

environmental footprint, grow our safe seafood supply

into the future, and create lasting jobs in our farm and

coastal communities, increasing domestic aquaculture

production is our best option. The question is,

howcan we grow the aquaculture industry in the United

States?

At this year’s Aquaculture America Conference,

the National Aquaculture Extension Steering

Committee (NAESC) identified this question as the

most pressing question facing the U.S. aquaculture and

seafood industry, and hosted a special Emerging Issues

Session. An expert panel of aquaculture leaders

including farmers, agency representatives, chefs, and

academics was convened to offer their answers to this

question. These are some of their recommendations:



Streamline permitting for aquaculture operations

to reduce the time and uncertainty involved in

starting aquaculture operations, especially for

shellfish operations.



Develop a unified voice for aquaculture

nationwide, to attract attention and support

industry growth