Scientists Warn: Nutritious Fish Stocks are Being Squandered by Salmon Farming

upstart writes:

Scientists Warn: Nutritious Fish Stocks Are Being Squandered by Salmon Farming:

Scientists studying the Scottish salmon farming industry say that using only fish by-products - such as trimmings - for salmon feed, rather than whole wild-caught fish, would deliver significant nutritional and sustainability gains.

This would allow 3.7 million tonnes of fish to be left in the sea, and enable global annual seafood production to increase by 6.1 million tonnes.

"If we want to feed the growing global population well and sustainably, we must stop catching wild fish to feed farmed fish." - David Willer

[...] As the world's fastest growing food sector, aquaculture is often presented as a way to relieve pressure on wild fish stocks. But many aquaculture fish - such as Atlantic salmon - are farmed using fish oil and meal made from millions of tonnes of wild-caught fish, most of which is food-grade and could be eaten directly to provide vital nutrition.

The team collected data on fish nutrient content, fishmeal, and fish oil composition, and salmon production, and examined the transfer of micronutrients from feed to fish in Scotland's farmed salmon industry. They found that over half of the essential dietary minerals and fatty acids available in wild fish are lost when these fish are fed to farmed salmon.

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