We now farm more fish than we catch

Sea change

At the latest count, the average American was eating ~5 lbs more seafood per year than they had been in the 1990s, and globally the consumption of seafood has been outpacing population growth since the 1960s. But where exactly is all of that shrimp, tuna, and salmon coming from? 

When we think of fishing, it’s easy to romanticize weather-beaten boats helmed by wizened sea captains. But, on a global scale, much of modern fishing looks very different. In fact, increasingly, the contents of a seafood tower or “catch of the day” is more likely to have been farmed rather than caught in the wild.

That’s the latest conclusion from The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, an annual report published earlier this month by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which revealed that — for the first time in history — the majority of the world’s seafood came from fish farming rather than wild catching in 2022.

The practice of aquaculture — rearing fish and sea plants in controlled ponds, pens, and pools — produced more than 94 million metric tons of seafood in 2022 and is being hailed by some as a means of sustaining seafood production in the face of depleting wild fish stocks. The 2022 tally was double the production figure from 2006 and reflects decades of investment and innovation in the aquaculture industry, which 30 years ago accounted for just 15% of total seafood.

Note: Total aquaculture production, which includes algae and aquatic plants like seaweed, overtook wild fishing efforts more than a decade ago (the more recent milestone excludes sea plants).

Pond life

Asia, which has long been at the center of the world of commercial fishing and seafood more generally, is driving much of the aquaculture boom. In fact, the FAO attributes more than 90% of total global aquaculture production (including aquatic plants) to the continent, helping to secure fish farming’s spot as the “fastest-growing food production system in the world”. 

Cultivating marine life in ponds is perhaps the oldest and simplest form of aquaculture, and remains one of the most popular even thousands of years on from the first known examples of the practice. Pond fish farming often requires the least investment, upkeep, and maintenance and is common in coastal Asian countries. However the method can cause habitat damage, along with requiring careful management of waste and diseases.

In recent years, though, more advanced systems have emerged, as fish farming companies continue to develop (relatively) newer methods to keep up with international demand and temper negative effects. The number of floating net or mesh cages which allow water to flow freely through the net have soared, as has the practise of suspended aquaculture, where farmers grow shellfish partially submerged in water. Particularly tech-savvy seafood producers are even using drones and — those words you can’t escape, artificial intelligence — to monitor their farms and yields.

Plenty more…

Although some protest it just as strongly as they would cattle or poultry farming on ethical grounds, the rise of aquafarming promises much. As a healthy source of protein, seafood plays a key role in meeting the nutritional needs of a growing global population that has a voracious appetite for fish. In countries like the US, that means shipping in shoals from overseas: imports of seafood have tripled in the last 50 years.

Back in the 1970s, America was only importing around 1 million metric tons of fishery products every year. By the turn of the century that figure had roughly doubled, and it recently hit an all time high of 3.2 million metric tons in 2022. That’s not only a reflection of the growing American appetite for everything from monkfish to molluscs, but it mirrors the wider trend of America increasingly looking overseas for its fish. Indeed, the NOAA estimates that the US relies on imports to supply somewhere between 70-85% of its seafood. 

But, with demand for fish soaring higher and one-third of the world’s fisheries reported as being overfished by the FAO, are fish farms the silver bullet that many hope them to be? So far, the jury is still out, and it would be wrong to commend or condemn all aquaculture efforts in one go. Impacts vary by country, by species, and even by project.

Off the hook

There has been a standout swimmer from the ever-growing tower of seafood that’s shipped to the US each year, as Americans pick up on one particular protein’s health benefits, such as its high Omega-3 and rich vitamin D content. And it perfectly encapsulates much of the aquafarming debate. Whether they’re hitting their favorite sushi spot for some sashimi, popping it in the airfryer, or grilling filets at cookouts, America’s taste for salmon is driving imports of the fish to record levels.

Last year, salmon accounted for a whopping $6.3 billion (or 25%) of the $25.1 billion worth of seafood that the US imported. That was very nearly enough to topple the 50-year dominance of prawns and shrimp as America’s most imported seafood product, in a clear sign that we could be past the peak era of Big Shrimp… though execs at Red Lobster, whose recent bankruptcy was partially ascribed to the popularity of its “Ultimate Endless Shrimp” deal, may disagree on that last point. 

So, salmon is very much the national catch of the day then. And guess what? Most of the salmon, like the majority of the world’s seafood, is now reared on farms and not line-caught. That comes with a host of environmental, ethical, and health concerns — with some studies finding higher levels of contaminants in farmed salmon. But would our growing consumption of salmon have been possible without aquafarming? Almost certainly not.