Over the past century, the world's diet has been trained on livestock and wild fisheries. Yet, the natural ecosystems that those food sources depend on are reaching a saturation point. While aquaculture has boomed, livestock production and ocean fish harvests have remained flat. Pound for pound, feeding costs are significantly less for fish than for cattle. Aquaculture requires far less energy than livestock production and takes pressure away from wild fisheries, according to the report.
Cattle require seven pounds of feed in order to gain one pound of live weight.
By contrast, certain fish species raised on farms require less than two pounds of grain for each pound of live weight they add. Growing grain can require up to 1,000 pounds of water to produce a pound of grain, the report notes. Fish farming also allows greater water efficiency. The report was released by the Worldwatch Institute . A copy of the report is available on the site.