Aquaculture worldwide has made huge improvements in recent years in becoming more environmentally sustainable, says a new report from the European Commission\'s Directorate-General Environment.
\"Environmental concerns are already recognized by the aquaculture industry, which has made great progress in improving its environmental record in recent years,\" the report says.
\" Research has shown that some environmental pressures can been mitigated in absolute terms, as seen with the dramatic reductions in escapees and antibiotics use [in salmon farms].
\"As the sector expands further, it must consider how to continually improve its environmental sustainability: this is essential to the long-term economic sustainability of aquaculture as well as to our food security,\" the report continues.
The report points out that aquaculture has made huge improvements over the years in terms of:
Reducing dependency on wild fish for feed
Reducing disease and developing better disease management and prevention
Reducing escapes
Better sea lice management
Reducing the usage of antibiotics and parasiticides
Reducing seafloor impacts
More research is needed, however, and the report encourages the aquaculture industry to maintain a strong scientific focus and to continue research into mitigating environmental impacts.
Download report from the link below (PDF).
aquaculture-has-made-great-sustainability-improvements-says-eu-report
