Building a Future for Nutritious, Affordable Seafood through Offshore Aquaculture
As we celebrate National Ocean Month and reflect on the valuable resources provided to us by our ocean waters, it is a timely reminder of the potential that offshore aquaculture would provide to American communities as we seek ways to raise more nutritious and climate-friendly seafood here in America, while working in complement with our wild capture fisheries.
This month, Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) interviewed the former Science Advisor to the Office of Aquaculture at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Michael Rust, Ph.D. Dr. Rust is a Senior Research Fellow at Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, working on research projects that advance understanding, governance, and development of sustainable aquaculture in the context of climate change and seafood demand.
Prior to his role as a Science Advisor at NOAA, Dr. Rust developed the marine aquaculture program at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. He began his career as an aquaculture extension agent for the Peace Corps in the Philippines, and worked in Haiti, Canada and Norway, which is where he first learned about the need for and potential of aquaculture to feed a growing population sustainably.
How would the expansion of offshore aquaculture in the U.S. help to meet the nutritional needs of American families?
Seafood is uniquely healthy due to the long chain omega-3 fatty acids it contains. These compounds are not only healthy, but they are also only found in marine foods, making seafood more than a source of protein. But for American families to benefit, that seafood needs to be affordable and available. That is where offshore aquaculture comes in. It is one of few options for providing new sources of seafood at a scale to impact availability, and eventually, at a price to be affordable. If we are to make progress with sustainable healthy seafood at a reasonable price for Americans, we need to put more effort into marine fish aquaculture.
How do continued advancements in the field help to make aquaculture one of the most sustainable forms of protein production?
The basic biology of fish gives it a sustainability advantage as a protein source. Fish don’t need to use energy to regulate their body temperature and they are buoyant in the water. This allows for higher meat per body weight percentage advantage, and greater conversion efficacy over land animals. The result is more fillet from less feed. Continued scientific advancements in aquaculture help to increase the sustainability of raising fish by optimizing the process in numerous areas. Through advancements in science and technology, fish farmers can increase feed efficiency – which limits waste to the surrounding waters and ecosystems. Proper siting of farms, improved husbandry, and health management based on the latest science and data available, all reduce negative impacts and increase returns. These factors help farmers grow a high yield of healthy, nutritious fish that can feed Americans.
How does growth of U.S. aquaculture help to meet climate goals?
Expanding aquaculture can play an important role in reducing food-based greenhouse gas emissions and building climate-resilient food systems. Given the greater resource efficiency of aquatic organisms relative to organisms used in terrestrial agriculture, they have a smaller greenhouse gas footprint than their counterparts raised on land. Growing fish domestically provides a larger supply of local seafood that does not need to be transported long distances by air or across the ocean. Further, marine aquaculture does not need freshwater and requires little conversion of land, making it a sustainable complement to agriculture to grow more food for a growing population. Marine aquaculture also provides resilience from the impacts of climate change. Unlike terrestrial agriculture, ocean aquaculture is not subject to droughts and floods, and can be insulated from the threats of severe storms. Finally, ocean energy can be tapped locally to provide onsite green power to fuel marine kinetic, wind or solar energy generators. This is why offshore aquaculture could be one of the most sustainable forms of protein production today.
How would American communities in states nationwide – both coastal and rural – benefit from the expansion of offshore aquaculture?
Marine aquaculture provides benefits for communities coast-to-coast. Coastal communities will see an increase in well-paying year-round jobs, aquaculture businesses, and waterfront investments. Inland states will benefit as suppliers of fish feed, which increasingly use sustainable plant-based ingredients from agriculture. Seafood consumers will benefit by having more affordable seafood available in the local market.
Do you believe that commercial fishing industry and aquaculture can thrive together?
Yes, the wild capture and aquaculture sectors can work together to help increase the amount of seafood coming into our ports and add resilience to our seafood supply. Climate change is likely to affect the commercial fishing sector both positively and negatively in different locations as ocean temperatures rise and impact wild fish stocks. Aquaculture can work in complement with wild capture to help increase our supply of American-raised seafood where wild stocks are in decline. Together, aquaculture and capture fisheries create the supply diversity needed to ensure supply chain resilience. The demand for seafood in America – where up to 85% of the seafood we consume is imported, half of which is farm-raised from countries overseas – is large enough, and diverse enough, to minimize direct competition between these two sectors. Working together would improve the basis for common upstream and downstream support for both sectors and reduce direct competition. For example, both need suppliers that sell similar gear, boats, docks, hoists and all that goes into making a working waterfront operate successfully. Likewise, both industries need downstream processing and sales for the product. Ultimately, a business, or community that has a mix of fishing and aquaculture would help to diversify seafood sources, increasing our supply of local seafood and lessening our nation’s dependence on imports.