Innovation & Investment

A timeline of key milestones and achievements by the Global Aquaculture Alliance and its third-party aquaculture certification scheme, Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP). 

The third installment of Fish 2.0, taking place this November, will feature numerous aquaculture-related businesses at various stages of development. The competition’s founder dishes on what the judges will be seeing on stage. 

With farmed shrimp production having largely shifted overseas, RAS technologies offer potential solutions for growing production in the United States. The industry is poised for growth, thanks to entrepreneurs who believe in its potential. 

As global demand for food rises, the focus on water resources will intensify. In Berlin, a four-year research project is demonstrating the feasibility of aquaponics, which can drastically cut water inputs. 

Africa offers innumerable opportunities and a raft of challenges for developing a modernized aquaculture industry. Investors are interested, and pursuing with cautious optimism. 

What is the future that Africa wants? Views on how to grow aquaculture on the continent vary widely, but no one disputes the notion that food security, food safety, income generation and job creation all stand to benefit. 

Now is the time for investment in efficiency improvements, better genetics, health management and more competition and innovation in the feed sector. Let's not perpetuate the myth that just a little more investment in some technical solutions will solve the problems in Africa. 

Initially, a new chip loaded with oyster DNA pieces will identify oysters resistant to the herpes virus, but in the future it may be able to identify oysters with other desirable characteristics, such as faster growth rates. 

Aquaculture could be a sustainable alternative to fishing for tuna but achieving commercial-scale production has proven challenging. 

South Africa’s marine fish farming industry burned many investors, but the operational experiences aided productivity in intensive aquaculture systems, especially land-based RAS. The time to invest is now. 

Ron Stotish, CEO of AquaBounty Technologies, believes genetically modified salmon is no threat to its opponents and the outlook for AquAdvantage is good. With its purchase of the Bell Fish Co. RAS facility, commercialization will soon commence. 

At the IntraFish Seafood Investor Forum in New York, “all roads lead to salmon.” Buoyed by high prices and soaring demand, the sector is an example worth following. But it’s not without its challenges. 

Land-based aquaculture, perhaps the ultimate environmental risk-mitigation tool, was the talk of the town at the IntraFish Seafood Investor Forum. Once scoffed at for high capital and energy requirements, RAS now has a crowded bandwagon. 

With his book, “Aquaculture: Will it Rise to Its Potential to Feed the World?” hot off the presses, the pioneer abalone farmer vents on U.S. aquaculture regulations but remains deeply optimistic about fish farming. 

Some investors like what they see in aquaculture and its potential to produce wholesome, high-quality food for a growing population. But critical questions must be answered if the industry is to attract the amount of money it needs.