Challenging the Aquaculture Industry on Sustainability-Greenpeace ...

Introduction
Against a continuing background of diminishing and over–exploited
marine resources, aquaculture has been widely held up as a panacea to
<strong>the</strong> problem of providing a growing world population with ever-increasing
amounts of fish for consumption. With <strong>the</strong> expansion of <strong>the</strong> industry,
however, <strong>the</strong> tendency has been for methods of production to intensify,
particularly in <strong>the</strong> production of carnivorous species. This has resulted in
many serious impacts on <strong>the</strong> environment and human rights abuses.
A more extensive and fully referenced version of this report can be
downloaded at: www.greenpeace.org/aquaculture_report
This report examines some of <strong>the</strong> serious environmental and social
impacts that have resulted from <strong>the</strong> development and practice of
aquaculture and which are reflected across <strong>the</strong> global industry. It starts
by looking at <strong>the</strong> production of salmon, tuna, o<strong>the</strong>r marine finfish, shrimp
and tilapia. These case studies serve to illustrate a number of <strong>the</strong>se
environmental and social problems, which toge<strong>the</strong>r undermine <strong>the</strong>
sustainability of contemporary aquaculture (Section 2). Negative social
impacts have been associated with both <strong>the</strong> production and processing
industries in developing countries. Abuses stem from <strong>the</strong> desire of
producers and processors to maximise profits within a highly competitive
market, while meeting <strong>the</strong> low prices demanded by consumers (Section
2). The use of fishmeal and fish oil as feed in <strong>the</strong> production of some
species is a key issue (Section 3). O<strong>the</strong>r negative environmental impacts
can be addressed in a variety of ways in order to place aquaculture on a
more sustainable footing (Section 4 and 5). Section 6 briefly explores
certification of aquaculture products. Ultimately, aquaculture must
become sustainable. In order to achieve this, <strong>the</strong> aquaculture industry
will need to adopt and adhere to rigorous standards (Section 7).
Figure 2 Global aquaculture production pyramid by feeding habit and nutrient supply in 2003
CARNIVOROUS FINFISH
3.98 million tonnes – 7.3%
OMNIVOROUS/SCAVENGING
CRUSTACEANS
2.79 million tonnes – 5.1%
HERBIVOROUS/OMNIVOROUS/
FILTER FEEDING FINFISH, MOLLUSCS
AQUATIC PLANTS
47.84 million tonnes – 87.6%
CARNIVOROUS
FINFISH
CRUSTACEA
OMNIVOROUS/
HERBIVOROUS FINFISH
16.02 million tonnes – 29.2%
FILTER FEEDING FINFISH
7.04 million tonnes – 12.8%
FILTER FEEDING MOLLUSCS
12.30 million tonnes – 22.4%
PHOTOSYNTHETIC AQUATIC PLANTS
12.48 million tonnes – 22.8%
Source: FAO 52
6 Greenpeace International <strong>Challenging</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Aquaculture</strong> <strong>Industry</strong> on Sustainability