Benefits and Risks of a Growing Aquaculture Industry Vol. By Dr. Rebecca J. Goldburg, a biologist in EDF's New York office and head of EDF's Biotechnology Program, who works on aquaculture in EDF's Oceans Program. Precipitous declines in wild fish populations from overfishing, water pollution, and habitat loss are sharply increasing the economic incentives for aquaculture, or fish farming. But even without these factors, there are strong incentives for aquaculture.
Fish are one of very few human foods that are still mainly caught, rather than cultivated.
As new techniques make fish farming more efficient, farmed fish become competitive with captured fish in the marketplace. Already the salmon, shrimp, catfish, tilapia, and trout sold in supermarkets are frequently obtained from farms rather than fishing boats. Workers test the readiness of a salmon's eggs at a commercial fish farm near Schelt, British Columbia, Canada. The growth of the aquaculture industry could bring important environmental and other benefits. By providing an alternative source of fish, aquaculture could help ease current unsustainable pressures that threaten the collapse of wild fish populations.