Rising Aquaculture Needs Improve Wild Fish Feed Management
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The increasing demand for seafood has led to a surge in aquaculture, or fish farming, which in turn has put pressure on small wild fish used as feed for farmed species, such as Peruvian anchoveta, Atlantic herring, and West African sardinella. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report indicates that despite efforts to develop alternative feed products and improve efficiency in using wild fish, the demand for these species is likely to increase as the aquaculture market grows. Some governments have taken steps to better manage these forage fish, such as implementing ecosystem-based fisheries management, which focuses on maintaining ecosystem health and reforming fisheries policies, but more needs to be done to ensure the sustainability of both wild fish populations and the aquaculture industry.
Fish Farming Spurs Greater Demand for Better Management of Wild Forage Fish
With growing global seafood consumption, aquaculture or fish farming is expanding to meet this demand. From the early 1990s, wild catches have remained static at approximately 80 million metric tons, whereas fish farming has surged, as per the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) 2024 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. This increase in aquaculture products leads to more pressure on small wild fish used to feed farmed species, known as forage fish.
Impact of Feed Production on Wild Forage Fish
The fishing industry supports aquaculture operations by providing around 20% of its catch for fish meal and fish oil production for fish farms, states the SOFIA report. Forage fish species are crucial ingredients in aquaculture and are expected to face increasing demand as the production of fed species like salmon, sea bream, and shrimp expands. Even with alternative feed products and improved efficiency in using wild fish, the overall demand for forage fish is likely to rise.
With the aquaculture industry’s increased demand for forage fish, there’s a greater need for careful management of these fisheries. Forage fish quantities fluctuate significantly in response to environmental changes impacting sensitive predators. Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) is a proven approach to balance fish catches to ensure the ecosystem’s sustainability. Decision-makers need to prioritize ecosystem health over the population of any single species and modify fisheries policies to meet these goals. Detailed steps to adopt and implement EBFM are already available.
Improvements and More Needed in Forage Fish Management
Political momentum for EBFM is growing. The US introduced the federal Forage Fish Conservation Act in 2021, and Canada revised its catch limit for capelin, a forage fish, in 2023. The UK restricted all fishing for sandeel, a key forage fish in the Northeast Atlantic, and requested advice on several North Sea forage fish species’ ecological roles. In West Africa, plans for managing small pelagic species are emerging, with Mauritania introducing one in 2022.
Regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) are enhancing their forage fish protections. The North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission has agreed to develop ecological objectives for managing the forage species blue whiting and herring. The North Pacific Fisheries Commission is working on a management system for Pacific saury expected to be operational by 2027. Other RFMOs and States must follow these examples for the forage species they manage.
As a significant portion of the world’s largest fisheries cater to the aquaculture market, fisheries managers and other stakeholders in the aquaculture supply chain need to ensure that forage fish use is sustainable. For aquaculture to meet growing seafood demand without damaging wild fish populations, fish feed must come from forage fish managed under EBFM regimes.
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