However, not all environmentalists agree. In the preservationists view, nature knows best and nature should be preserved at any cost. In this context, neither aquaculture nor any other system of food production has much growing room. Humanity s need to breathe, eat, create waste, and shelter itself has a profound impact on the earth s ecosystem. We can seek to attenuate the negative aspects of that impact as much as possible, but there will always be some impact.
Conservationists are more realistic about sustainability.
Their goal is to maintain ecosystems through collaborative management by public and private stakeholders at the local level. Clearly, aquaculturists are also conservationists. In most areas of the world, water rights arc publicly-held, and access to space for aquaculture requires that farmers engage in a permitting process with local government organizations. For instance, in the state of Maine, USA, no salmon farm lease site is granted unless the request is approved by four state government agencies, which invite review by all stakeholders. Watchdogs and Soundbites Regardless of their preservationist or conservationist leanings, environmental groups make an important contribution by alerting the public to hazards and risks.