Sustainable mariculture at its best

  • “We must plant the sea and herd its animals … using the sea as farmers instead of hunters. That is what civilization is all about—farming replacing hunting.”

    — Jacques-Yves Cousteau

  • “The study of fish in the sea may be the most necessary of all our oceanographic researches because we shall increasingly be made to turn to the sea as a vast food producer by the increase in the population of the world.”

    — T.F. Gaskell

  • “With the world’s population predicted to increase to 9 billion people by 2050 — particularly in areas that have high rates of food insecurity — aquaculture, if responsibly developed and practiced, can make a significant contribution to global food security and economic growth,”

    — Árni M. Mathiesen, Assistant Director-General
    FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department

Why mariculture?

The mariculture sector is the fastest growing sector of food production in the world and presents an incredible opportunity for willing investors and host countries. Currently, mariculture is a $50 billion dollar market globally and roughly half of the fish consumed by humans are produced by fish farms. As a result of growing worldwide population and demand for fish consumption, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization has said that “the maximum wild-capture fisheries potential from the world’s oceans has probably been reached.” The fact that increasing worldwide human population continues to outstrip the maximum wild-capture fisheries potential indicates that mariculture has very high potential for continued growth in the decades to come. 

Mariculture also presents a unique opportunity for developing nations, which often have underdeveloped coastlines and overfished coastal waters. Developing nations often have the necessary space and unpolluted waters needed for maricultural activities unavailable in highly industrialized and developed nations. Moreover, as overfishing increases financial stress on poor coastal communities, mariculture can both serve to offer stable, long-term employment as well as replenishment of overfished marine species.