Industry analysis

The Blue Impact Fund aims to raise up to £75 million to catalyse the growth of truly sustainable aquaculture in the UK – with a focus on projects including the production of seaweed, bivalves and land-based shrimp.

Investors looking to support sustainable marine aquaculture and the blue economy need accurate ocean data to make evidence-based decisions and de-risk their financial offerings – but a lack of reliable data might be curtailing their efforts.

Although native to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America, red drum are now farmed across a wide geographical range – with some producers proving more enduringly successful than others.

Provision of quality seed, ensuring good production practices, adding value through processing and reducing information gaps are all crucial to make Indonesia’s seaweed sector more competitive, according to a respected seaweed processing entrepreneur.

Though seaweed operations are diverse – specialising in various species and operating in different economic circumstances – today’s macroalgae practitioners need to stay grounded in science as they work towards their scale and sustainability goals for 2030.

According to Ohad Maiman, founder and CEO of The Kingfish Company, they can indeed – although he warned that sustainability is by no means “a free pass” to profitability.

James de la Fargue has been CEO of Lake Harvest – one of Africa’s largest tilapia producers – since 2016. Despite downscaling production, the changes he has implemented have enabled the company to attract new investors and confirm its place close to the top of…

Sub-Saharan Africa's limited aquaculture supply creates an excellent opportunity for Kenya's fish farming sector, giving it the potential to bank on favourable climate conditions and untapped land and water resources.

Despite only representing about 1 percent of global seaweed cultivation volumes, green macroalgae (Chlorophyta) could play a decisive role in the commercial seaweed sector as it expands and diversifies.

Though insect protein startups are generating splashy headlines and bringing new players into the aquafeed industry, single-cell and microbial proteins might be a key feed component in the future.

The main salmon producing regions and companies can look forward to profitable 2022, with increases in both volumes produced and prices.

Following a year of phenomenal growth in 2021, 2022 is set to be another excellent year for many shrimp producing nations, with scope to increase production through intensification and the use of better genetics, according to Gorjan Nikolik.

Blue carbon is emerging as a new conservation game-changer and climate mitigation strategy, but practitioners say that investors and policymakers should think twice before they fall for the hype.

Ahead of the inaugural meeting of the World Aquaculture Society’s African Chapter, which is due to take place in Alexandria this month, Harrison Charo Karisa – one of the key organisers of the event – discusses the prospects of the continent’s aquaculture sect…