Albert G. J. Tacon

Fishing for feed or fishing for food: increasing global competition for small pelagic forage fish.

Abstract At present, small pelagic forage fish species (includes anchovies, herring, mackerel, sardines, etc.) represent the largest landed species group in capture fisheries (27.3 million t or 29.7% of total capture fisheries landings in 2006). They also currently constitute the major species group actively fished and targeted for nonfood uses, including reduction into fishmeal and fish oil for use within compound animal feeds, or for direct animal feeding; the aquaculture sector alone consumed the equivalent of about 23.8 million t of fish (live weight equivalent) or 87% in the form of feed inputs in 2006. This article attempts to make a global analysis of the competition for small pelagic forage fish for direct human consumption and nonfood uses, particularly concerning the important and growing role played by small pelagic forage fish in the diet and food security of the poor and needy, especially within the developing countries of Africa and the Sub-Saharan region.

Aquafeeds and the environment: policy implications

Abstract Aquaculture feeds and feeding regimes can play a major role in determining the quality and potential environmental impact or not of finfish and crustacean farm effluents. This is particularly true for those intensive farming operations employing open aquaculture production systems, the latter including net cages/pen enclosures placed in rivers, estuaries or open-water bodies, and land-based through-flow tank, raceway or pond production systems. This is perhaps not surprising since the bulk of the dissolved and/or suspended inorganic and/or organic matter contained within the effluents of intensively managed open aquaculture production systems are derived from feed inputs, either directly in the form of the end-products of feed digestion and metabolism or from uneaten/wasted feed, or indirectly through eutrophication and increased natural productivity. So, as to limit the potential negative environmental impacts of feeds on aquaculture effluents, the major approaches taken by government authorities within major aquaculture-producing countries have included (1) requiring the treatment of farm effluents prior to discharge, through the use of settlement basins, specific filtration devices, waste water treatment systems, etc., (2) limiting the concentration of specific dissolved/suspended inorganic/organic materials and/or nutrients contained within the effluent discharged from the farm, (3) establishing maximum permissible amounts of specific nutrients (such as total nitrogen or phosphorus) that the farm is able to discharge over a fixed time period, (4) limiting the total number of licenses that can be issued and/or size of farm, depending upon the vicinity of other farming operations and the assimilative environmental carrying capacity of the receiving aquatic ecosystem, (5) limiting or fixing the total quantity of feed the farm is able to use over a fixed time period, (6) fixing maximum permissible specific nutrient levels within the compound feeds to be used to rear the species in question, (7) banning the use of specific potentially high-risk feed items such as fresh/trash fish and invertebrates, (8) banning the use of certain chemicals on-farm, including specific chemical therapeutants/drugs and chemicals (i.e., potentially toxic herbicides and pesticides, etc., (9) prescribing minimum feed performance criteria, such as specific levels of allowable dust/fines, feed efficiency or nutrient digestibility, (10) requiring the use of specific Codes of Conduct, including appropriate Best/Good Management Practices for farm operations, including feed manufacture and use, and environmental management, (11) requiring the development of suitable farm/pond sediment management strategies for the storage and disposal of sediments, or (12) requiring the implementation of an environmental monitoring program. The paper describes the merits and demerits of each of the above initiatives, with specific country examples, and attempts to offer guidance for the development of government policies aimed at regulating off-farm effluents and outputs rather than regulating on-farm feed inputs and feeding practices.

Feed Matters: Satisfying the Feed Demand of Aquaculture

The rise of aquaculture has attracted a great deal of attention and this has increased since the sector is now providing more fish and crustaceans than capture fisheries. This global prominence has been partly facilitated by the availability and on-farm provision of feed inputs within the major aquaculture producing countries. More than 70% of the total global aquaculture production is dependent upon the supply of external feed inputs. For the aquaculture sector to maintain its current growth rate, the supply of nutrient and feed inputs will have to grow at a similar rate, while aquatic ingredients production remains static and other sectors compete for same feed resources. This paper attempts to make a global analysis of aquaculture growth, its role in global food production, and to update the estimates of compound feed dependent fish and crustacean species.

Food Matters: Fish, Income, and Food Supply—A Comparative Analysis

ABSTRACT Human health and socio-economic development are intimately tied to food access and food security. In a world capable of producing sufficient food to meet the entire dietary nutrient needs of all its people, income plays a determinant role in dictating who has access to food or not, with under-nutrition and malnutrition still negatively affecting the health and well-being of many of the worlds poorest nations. This article attempts to compare the role played by fish and fishery products (whether derived from wild capture fisheries or aquaculture) in the diet of the worlds poorest and richest nations. The data show that fish and fishery products play an essential role in human nutrition, constituting the major source of dietary animal protein consumed within the Asian region and within many lower income countries within the African region.