Plows and Pitchforks/ Entre arados # 10

Plows and Pitchforks #10

The Sustainability of Corn-Fed Fish

By Matt Bernau

According to a news release from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Marine and Environmental Technology, researchers have produced a fish-free diet for fish raised in aquaculture confinement. Dr. Aaron Watson stated: “Aquaculture isn’t sustainable because it takes more fish to feed fish than are being produced…but a new vegetarian diet might change everything” http://www.umces.edu/imet/release/2013/aug/01/scientists-discover-key-easing-aquaculture%E2%80%99s-reliance-wild-caught-fish.

Dr. Allen Place, who is also working on the project, said “this makes aquaculture completely sustainable.” The reasoning was that substituting a farmed-fish diet of grains and supplements for fish caught in the wild would lower pressure on natural fisheries while being able to sustain a reliable protein source. Prior to this research, farmed fish had to be fed diets that included fish meal and fish oil. The results of Watson and Place’s research showed that fish can be raised successfully on a diet of “corn, wheat, and soy…and soybean or canola oil, supplemental lipids from algae sources, and amino acid supplements” (U of MD Press Release, August 6, 2013).

This appears to be an attempt by the commercial fish industry to replace the ‘difficult to catch’ natural feedstock of fish feed, with a grain-based feed that offers a fairly predictable supply. I fail to see how replacing a natural fish food that grows in the wild with corn, which is produced using fossil fuels and synthetic fertilizers. The claim that commercial fish feeding is now sustainable because fish oils and fish meal feed additives are able to be left out of the ration may be true from a short-sighted production standpoint, however, doing so will make the fish CAFO’s dependent upon a finite resource in the long run.

The term ‘sustainable’ is being used in different ways. As people working in the agricultural industry, we need to be vigilant on its use and work to discover the motives of those who use the term ‘sustainable’ to measure the resiliency of systems. Since agriculture is a product of environmental ecology and natural resources, planning regimes that only consider 5-20 year increments need to be understood in the context of over 5,000 years of known agricultural production history. There are no better people to drive the future of agriculture than those involved in it down to the bottom of the plowed furrow.

Farm and ranch professionals need to stay on top of new agricultural research, even if it isn’t in the same niche they operate daily. The decision-making will take place regardless if you are involved or not. When research or claims of research are made that makes something ‘sustainable’ or ‘better,’ ask questions and do your own research.

I can be reached at mmbernau@gmail.com, or @veritzombie on Twitter.