Celebrate World Oceans Day with Responsible Seafood

The Global Aquaculture Alliance wants you to celebrate World Oceans Day with responsible seafood.

Choosing sustainably farmed seafood takes pressure off precious ocean resources.

Let’s break it down:

• Throughout history, we’ve relied on the oceans to provide essential nutrients, including seafood.
• The growing demand for seafood (there will be 9.6 billion residents on Earth by 2050) has created significant pressure on wild fisheries.
• This demand will only continue to grow as more people realize that seafood is a healthy, delicious protein option and as the burgeoning middle class, particularly in Asia, upgrades their diet and eats more protein.
• Responsible aquaculture, which is respective of the surrounding environment, helps to meet the increasing need for sustainable protein while reducing the number of resources we draw directly from the ocean.

On World Oceans Day and the days that follow, think about putting a serving of farmed seafood on your plate. Wild-caught fish is a great option, too, but choosing farmed once in a while can help assure future generations are able to enjoy healthy, bountiful, beautiful oceans and their favorite scrumptious seafood dish!

Below are a few additional facts about how responsible aquaculture positively impacts the environment and ultimately the ocean. DYK?

Responsible aquaculture reduces bycatch. 

Aquaculture reduces bycatch, which is the incidental catch of “non-target species” such as juvenile fish, turtles and seabirds.

Aquaculture is one of the most resource-efficient ways to produce protein.

Fish process energy much more efficiently than mammals such as cows and pigs, thus requiring less feed per one pound of body mass.

Aquaculture produces lower greenhouse gas emissions than other types of farming.

When compared with cattle production, salmon production produces seven times less carbon dioxide!

Farmed bivalves can improve water quality.

Bivalves such as oysters, clams, mussels and scallops are filter feeders, meaning they remove excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphate from the water. This increases the clarity of the water, helps to stimulate plant growth, increases dissolved oxygen and can help to prevent harmful algal blooms.

If you celebrate World Oceans Day with responsible seafood, let us know! We’d love to hear about it!

Hints for social: #WorldOceansDay #ResponsibleSeafood

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