Aquaculture for all

$400,000 grant spurs aquaculture research

US - Despite grim news of declining fish populations, Charles Laidley of the Oceanic Institute says he's "pretty optimistic" because of developments in aquaculture.

"There is general agreement that the world's fisheries, if nothing else, are maxed out," said Laidley, program manager of OI's Finfish Department and principal investigator for the Hawaii Offshore Aquaculture Research Project.

A team of ecologists and economists warned in a report in the Nov. 3 issue of the journal Science that nearly all seafood populations will collapse by 2048 if overfishing and pollution continue.

"There is no obvious way we're going to increase food production from natural fisheries," Laidley said, adding that aquaculture is the only tangible source for increasing the output of seafood.

Oceanic Institute, an affiliate of Hawaii Pacific University, is focusing on technology to produce fish for food and for the natural environment through the aquarium market, Laidley said.

Source: Star Bulletin

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