Marine Aquaculture Could Feed Growing World Population

December 2009

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The oceans could become the source of more of humanity's food if steps are taken to expand and improve marine aquaculture, according to a study published in the December 2009 issue of BioScience.

As the world's population continues to grow, lack of fresh water and space mean that terrestrial agriculture is unlikely to be able to meet food demand, according to Carlos M. Duarte of the University of the Balearic Islands, Spain, and his seven coauthors. Freshwater aquaculture, which is largely confined to the tropics, is expanding, but its reliance on fresh water may limit long-term growth. Fisheries catches have been declining globally for two decades, and although conservation measures and a shift in consumption patterns could allow some recovery, marine aquaculture holds more potential for sustained growth.

Marine aquaculture is already on the rise: production has increased ten-fold over the past 30 years and is expected to exceed fisheries catches within 20 years. Yet Duarte and his colleagues argue that its continued growth will depend on adapting current techniques so that the food needed to feed marine animals is itself derived from marine aquaculture, rather than harvested from the wild or derived from agriculture. This goal is achievable, they maintain, if more animals low on the food chain are cultivated, including more plankton and algae. These could be used as food for both humans and for fish. New technology will also help, by allowing marine aquaculture operations to be expanded into more exposed offshore locations. Although some environmental impacts can be expected from the expansion of marine aquaculture, these are modest compared to those resulting from food production on land.

The complete list of peer-reviewed articles in the December 2009 issue of BioScience is as follows:

The Kinetochore Moves Ahead: Contributions of Molecular and Genetic Techniques to Our Understanding of Mitosis
Mary Kathrine Johnson and Dwayne A. Wise

Biodiversity Loss Affects Global Disease Ecology
Montira J. Pongsiri, Joe Roman, Vanessa O. Ezenwa, Tony L. Goldberg, Hillel S. Koren, Stephen C. Newbold, Richard S. Ostfeld, Subhrendu K. Pattanayak, and Daniel J. Salkeld

Dramatic Declines in North Atlantic Diadromous Fishes
Karin E. Limburg and John R. Waldman

Will the Oceans Help Feed Humanity?
Carlos M. Duarte, Marianne Holmer, Yngvar Olsen, Doris Soto, Núria Marbà, Joana Guiu, Kenny Black, and Ioannis Karakassis

Citizen Science: A Developing Tool for Expanding Science Knowledge and Scientific Literacy
Rick Bonney, Caren B. Cooper, Janis Dickinson, Steve Kelling, Tina Phillips, Kenneth V. Rosenberg, and Jennifer Shirk

To Name or Not to Name: The Effect of Changing Author Gender on Peer Review
Robyn M. Borsuk, Lonnie W. Aarssen, Amber E. Budden, Julia Koricheva, Roosa Leimu, Tom Tregenza, and Christopher J. Lortie

The Northern Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf Is Not Yet Recovered
Bradley J. Bergstrom, Sacha Vignieri, Steven R. Sheffield, Wes Sechrest, and Anne A. Carlson

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