NEWS

Moving aquaculture out to sea could rescue coastal ecosystems

・The Shandong authorities are pushing “marine ranching” as an alternative to coastal aquaculture.

・Other forms of coastal aquaculture continue to surge round the world

・Currently, around 60% of aquaculture still takes places ashore, and occupies around 20 million hectares,
an area the size of Syria. But with both spare land and freshwater running out, a move to marine aquaculture is
under way – with potentially devastating environmental consequences. Aquaculture has already been a major
cause of environmental damage to coastal China, which has seen the loss of more than 70% of its mangroves and
80% of near-shore reefs.

 

・The only onshore opportunity suggested by TNC is growing fish in closed tanks that filter and recirculate treated
wastewater – a long-mooted technology that has so far failed to take off because of high costs.

 

・The ASC says there are currently just 10 certified aquaculture farms in China, producing 60,000 tonnes of seafood
each year. This is not much more than one tonne in a thousand of Chinese output.

https://chinadialogueocean.net/9468-moving-aquaculture-out-to-sea-could-rescue-coastal-ecosystems/