1.4 Sustainability

Environmental sustainability will be increasingly important in production quality as the industry seeks to reduce or in fact eliminate its ecological footprint. One approach to the sustainability of meat production could be viewed from a resource utilization perspective whereby output per inputs will be evaluated. In an evaluation of energy utilization in aquatic species compared to some of the terrestrial domestic species, it looks like fish have a significant advantage, as seen in the figure below.^[1]

The greatest challenge to sustainability is recycling nutrients from fish and feed to something of worth. The algae and seaweed system of aquaponics in marine culture may be the easiest to implement with land-based marine facilities that have access to some portion of surface water. For sea cages, the seawater can be drawn down from or around the sea cages to provide water source for the seaweed cultivation if engineering needs can be met.^[2]

For freshwater finfish, a multitrophic production facility will likely include numerous finfish species instead of shellfish to capture nutrients of the dispelled feed/feces.

Regulating Agencies

Just as agriculture has agencies that regulate laws and the transport of products, so does aquaculture. Aquaculture regulations can be split into the sections covered by each; for example, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) covers food safety and drug approvals and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) covers aquaculture wastewater.^[3] Other agencies that cover aquaculture to some degree are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The main legislation regarding aquaculture is the National Aquaculture Act of 1980 that recognized the need for sustainable harvesting of aquatic species in response to population declines. The associated Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture (JSA) was created to increase federal research of aquaculture practices.^[4] Legislation was also passed regarding protections for cultured animals, providing for good animal welfare practices. These protections will be covered in Chapter 11: Welfare.