Where Will We Get Our Omega-3s?

May 13, 2016

We hear all the time about omega 3 fatty acids and how they are important they are for our health. Two of the three omega 3s essential to human health are made only by marine organisms. Unfortunately, their supply is limited and can’t be increased. As our population increases, we face expanding demand that can’t be met as things stand now. Starting this month, a group of researchers in England will do an on-farm trial of an oilseed crop they engineered to produce one of the two marine omega 3s—EPA.

Feeding The Animals We Eat: Fish Farming vs. Land Farming

April 15, 2016

We need more sustainably-raised and nutritious food. Aquaculture is certainly poised to contribute meaningfully to our future food needs. Fish farming makes a much smaller call on resources than other types of animal agriculture, and it provides nutritious food that public health experts say should be a larger part of our diets. It’s not the sole answer to “What’s for dinner?” in 2040. But it will be an important part of the answer.

How Do We Know If Fish Farming Is Sustainable?

March 16, 2016

This is the last article in my series on aquaculture. Many times in this small series, I’ve argued that the expansion of fish farming is both good and necessary. And, just as many times, I’ve said that this expansion needs to be sustainable. Sustainable is a problematic word. It means so many things to many people that it may actually mean nothing to anybody. For myself the short, and admittedly rather vague, definition I use is that sustainable means practicing now in ways that do not preclude the opportunity for others to practice in the future. Others, however, have undertaken much more rigorous efforts to define sustainable aquaculture in particular. They have also taken the steps to recognize those who adhere to their sustainability vision. In this article I describe some of the work of those who define sustainable aquaculture and what it means.

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