That was the provocative claim from Carlos Duarte, who delivered the opening plenary at Aquaculture Europe 2025 in Valencia, in a keynote titled Regenerative aquaculture to reconcile human and planetary health.
The message at the session was clear: aquaculture should be seen as the indispensable foundation of future food security, due to its efficiency and diversity. Yet, it remains constrained by outdated regulation, public misperception and too slow a shift from extractive to regenerative practices.
With supply of aquatic foods stagnant and demand rising – and with certain destructive fishing practices further degrading marine ecosystems – the industry’s importance is clear.
“Aquaculture is not a choice, it's an imperative and the only way to continue to supply and actually increase the supply of healthy aquatic foods to humans,” he said.
Aquaculture has grown immensely
According to FAO figures cited by Duarte, 51 percent of total aquatic food production in 2022 came from aquaculture – 12 times higher than in 1970 – providing 65 percent of the sector’s monetary value and 40 percent of its jobs.
“The scope for future growth of aquaculture is huge and in fact is indeed an imperative,” he added. If current rates continue – with “bumpy”, but mainly positive growth in recent years – aquaculture could occupy around one million square kilometres, roughly 0.3 percent of the global ocean, by 2025.
Bottlenecks remain
Duarte listed persistent constraints that could limit growth:
- The dependence on land use for aquafeed (competing with land and water and eroding some of the health benefits)
- The environmental impact generated by farms (organic pollution, disease risk, chemicals)
- Competition for marine space and slow consenting
- Negative public perception
Meanwhile, in terms of solutions, he suggested: closed production and recycling loops via seaweed-based and multi-trophic aquaculture; a shift toward photosynthetic and low-trophic species; building robust certification; and delivering smart, effective marine spatial planning.
“It is mesmerising that it's more difficult to get a concession for a hectare of a seaweed farm in Europe than to get a concession for oil and gas drilling. So that is totally unacceptable, and it must change,” he said.
Seaweed farming
Seaweed farming was highlighted by Duarte as a prime example of regenerative aquaculture, with vast potential for both food security and climate action.
Today, global seaweed farms cover only about 2,000 square kilometres – almost all in Asia – while Europe accounts for less than one. Yet, he noted, if seaweed farming were expand to the total area sustainable area of 3.5 million square kilometres, it would be enough to sequester up to 10 percent of the world’s required carbon dioxide reductions while improving water quality, enhancing biodiversity and supplying new markets from human and animal food to biofuels.
“It [seaweed farming] is not just sustainable, it is regenerative,” he argued.
On blue superfoods (low-trophic species such as filter feeders), Duarte cautioned they are not all low-priced – citing abalone and sea cucumbers can be valuable and relatively easy to farm. He noted that while aquaculture has generated ~152,000 papers since 1950, sustainable aquaculture is discussed in around 2,700 while regenerative aquaculture is mentioned in 69, indicating a research and investment gap.
Closing his address, Duarte urged regulators to enable rather than hinder growth, to incentivise regenerative practices and to counter misperceptions about aquaculture’s benefits for climate, biodiversity and human health. While aquaculture can help avert hunger, he added, it cannot be separated from geopolitics: “It is not acceptable that hunger is being used as a tool of war.”
