Young's Seafood Processor Backs Fish Farming

The company this week highlighted its approach with a new policy document entitled: "Why we believe fish farming is a good thing".

Fish farming – or aquaculture – is already the world's fastest-growing food production industry, with consistent growth of around nine per cent a year every year since 1975. Already around 45 per cent of global fish supply is from farmed sources, the company said.

The new policy highlights the fact that fish farming will become even more important in the next 10 years given escalating world food demand, the increased cost of oil, expanding populations and the fact that wild fisheries are a limited resource.

Mike Parker, deputy chief executive of Young’s parent company, Foodvest, said: "We felt it was important to emphasise our positive approach to aquaculture at a time when the global food industry is facing some major challenges and fish is under particular pressure. Fish is a healthy and natural source of protein – the only way for it to remain readily available to everyone is through the increased use of responsible aquaculture.

"Recent news that the rising cost of oil is threatening to curtail wild fishing effort makes this issue even more relevant. With so many pressures on food supply, without aquaculture we could very quickly reach a situation where fish was a food beyond the reach of all but the richest consumers."

The new policy applies to all companies in the Foodvest Group. In the UK it is freely available from the Young’s website at www.youngsseafood.co.uk.

We felt it was important to emphasise our positive approach to aquaculture at a time when the global food industry is facing some major challenges and fish is under particular pressure. Fish is a healthy and natural source of protein – the only way for it to remain readily available to everyone is through the increased use of responsible aquaculture. "Recent news that the rising cost of oil is threatening to curtail wild fishing effort makes this issue even more relevant. With so many pressures on food supply, without aquaculture we could very quickly reach a situation where fish was a food beyond the reach of all but the richest consumers." The new policy applies to all companies in the Foodvest Group. In the UK it is freely available from the Young’s website at www.youngsseafood.co.uk.