Global fish consumption has doubled in the last 60 years, putting immense pressure on wild stocks. While fish farming was intended to relieve this burden, a new investigation reveals it is exacerbating overfishing. Farmed fish are fed wild fish harvested globally and ground into fish meal.
In Norway, a single salmon can consume up to five times its weight in fish meal before reaching market size. This practice undermines aquaculture’s goal of sustainability. Led by Ian Urbina of the Outlaw Ocean Project, a five-year investigation uncovered systemic dangers in the fish meal industry.
Over 10,000 vessels supply the industry, with reports of dangerous working conditions, illegal fishing in protected waters, and environmental damage from bottom trawling. Workers in fish meal factories across Peru, Gambia, India, Indonesia, Mauritania, Senegal, and Thailand face health hazards from exposure to carcinogenic chemicals released during processing. Over 16.5 million people live within a mile of these factories, facing pollution and occasional violence.
In China, inland aquaculture has advanced but relies heavily on antimicrobials. In Norway, open-ocean fish pens depend entirely on fish meal feed. The industry, meant to solve overfishing, is instead driving it forward through opaque and often illegal practices.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing