Don't you hate it when you go to the coastal seafood restaurant and you are told that tilapia is the catch of the day? I do, because it is a freshwater, farmed fish. Yuck (actually, it's not bad but I choose to be snobby about my seafood since my wife is from Naptown).
But, I better get used to the idea of aquaculture replacing boat-caught fish:
Fish farms are close to matching fishing fleets in supplying seafood to expanding global markets, aided by the explosive growth of aquaculture in China for more than a decade, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
But both sources of supply taken together are unlikely to keep up with demand fueled by rising populations and incomes, the organization concluded in a report published today.
Fish farms aren't a problem*, their increase is what you would expect as the price of wild fish rises. The problem is the overuse of wild fish and the inefficiency fisheries management:
The report provides new evidence that marine fisheries policies need prompt attention, said Thomas E. Lovejoy, president of the Heinz Center, a Washington research group on environmental policy.
Some useful steps, he said, would be to set aside areas where fish can breed safely and to limit destructive methods like bottom-scraping trawling, which destroys fish habitats.
“It’s important to try and restore what we’ve run down and not just move on to depleting something else,” he said.
And, I guess, better left unsaid, another useful step is ITQs [and don't miss Stavins on ITQs].
Note:
*See comments.
