jaybee
04-09-2003, 04:41 PM
Aquaculture Conference Keynote Address
Keynote paper presented by Don Staniford at "Charting the Best Course: The Future of Mariculture in Australia's Marine Environment"
(27th August 2003) - a conference organised by the Queensland Conservation Council and the Australian Marine Conservation Society (http://www.qccqld.org.au/aquaconf).
Marine Aquaculture - the New Revolution or is it?
Abstract:
Aquaculture - the fastest growing sector of the world food economy - has been practised for millennia but it is only recently that intensive 'factory' fish farming has replaced traditional 'family' systems. Similarly, the transition from capture to culture economy has ushered in a new era of resource exploitation with profound economic, social and environmental consequences. A clash of cultures between finfish and shellfish farming means that fish have become a biological agent of pollution rather than a biological indicator.
'Five fundamental flaws' characterise sea cage fish farming; namely: untreated wastes; mass escapes; diseases and parasites; toxic chemicals and fish feed/food. The first four flaws can at least be mitigated by waste treatment and closed containment. Ultimately, however, the dependence upon depleted and contaminated fish feed as a fuel supply represents the fifth and fatal flaw.
Given that Australia plans to treble production by 2010 the potential to precipitate environmental impacts is significant. Already there are alarming signs that the salmon, kingfish and tuna cages littering the Australian coastline are encroaching upon pristine waters. Lessons can be learned from salmon farming in Chile, Scotland, Canada and Norway; from tuna farming in Japan, Spain and Croatia; from sea bass and bream in the Mediterranean as well as emerging species such as cod, barramundi, halibut and haddock. If Australia is to avoid a similar public and consumer backlash it ought to heed these international warnings.
To avoid environmental and food safety problems reaching crisis point, the cancerous growth of carnivorous sea cage fish farming must be stopped dead in its tracks. In practical terms that includes ripping out cages in unsuitable locations, compulsory tagging of farmed fish, closed-containment systems and the promotion of environmentally benign shellfish farming. Unless the net is closed, sea cage fish farming will be 'the one that got away'.
Contact details: Don Staniford, The Salmon Farm Protest Group (Scotland, United Kingdom): http://www.salmonfarmmonitor.org
Email: don.staniford@virgin.net
Tel: 00 44 7880 716082
Keynote paper presented by Don Staniford at "Charting the Best Course: The Future of Mariculture in Australia's Marine Environment"
(27th August 2003) - a conference organised by the Queensland Conservation Council and the Australian Marine Conservation Society (http://www.qccqld.org.au/aquaconf).
Marine Aquaculture - the New Revolution or is it?
Abstract:
Aquaculture - the fastest growing sector of the world food economy - has been practised for millennia but it is only recently that intensive 'factory' fish farming has replaced traditional 'family' systems. Similarly, the transition from capture to culture economy has ushered in a new era of resource exploitation with profound economic, social and environmental consequences. A clash of cultures between finfish and shellfish farming means that fish have become a biological agent of pollution rather than a biological indicator.
'Five fundamental flaws' characterise sea cage fish farming; namely: untreated wastes; mass escapes; diseases and parasites; toxic chemicals and fish feed/food. The first four flaws can at least be mitigated by waste treatment and closed containment. Ultimately, however, the dependence upon depleted and contaminated fish feed as a fuel supply represents the fifth and fatal flaw.
Given that Australia plans to treble production by 2010 the potential to precipitate environmental impacts is significant. Already there are alarming signs that the salmon, kingfish and tuna cages littering the Australian coastline are encroaching upon pristine waters. Lessons can be learned from salmon farming in Chile, Scotland, Canada and Norway; from tuna farming in Japan, Spain and Croatia; from sea bass and bream in the Mediterranean as well as emerging species such as cod, barramundi, halibut and haddock. If Australia is to avoid a similar public and consumer backlash it ought to heed these international warnings.
To avoid environmental and food safety problems reaching crisis point, the cancerous growth of carnivorous sea cage fish farming must be stopped dead in its tracks. In practical terms that includes ripping out cages in unsuitable locations, compulsory tagging of farmed fish, closed-containment systems and the promotion of environmentally benign shellfish farming. Unless the net is closed, sea cage fish farming will be 'the one that got away'.
Contact details: Don Staniford, The Salmon Farm Protest Group (Scotland, United Kingdom): http://www.salmonfarmmonitor.org
Email: don.staniford@virgin.net
Tel: 00 44 7880 716082