Taming the Blue Frontier
by Sarah Simpson
Volume 10, number 2
Discussion Questions
1. What are the crucial issues that must be addressed in order to make aquaculture more sustainable? How do the new approaches described here address these challenges? What issues remain to be solved?
2. Will dilution solve the issue of pollution in aquaculture? What are some of the challenges of deep-water aquaculture?
3. Do you think that we should use aquaculture to improve the supply and production of high-end fisheries products, or should we focus on improving aquaculture that would benefit lower income people who may depend upon oceans for the majority of their protein needs? Can we address both simultaneously?
Websites for Further Information
• NOAA Aquaculture Program: http://aquaculture.noaa.gov/
• NOAA Central Library, Aquaculture Information Center: http://www.lib.noaa.gov/docaqua/frontpage.htm
• World Aquaculture Society: https://www.was.org/
Aquaculture in the News
• Obama administration hands offshore aquaculture oversight to NOAA (New York Times, April 23, 2009): http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/04/23/23greenwire-obama-admin-hands-offshore-aquaculture-oversig-10648.html?scp=1&sq=aquaculture&st=cse
• In China, Farming Fish in Toxic Waters (New York Times, December 15, 2007): http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/world/asia/15fish.html
• When Fish Farms Are Built Along The Coast, Where Does The Waste Go? (ScienceDaily, Feb. 25, 2009): http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090215151758.htm
• Aquaculture’s Growth Seen As Continuing (ScienceDaily, Jan. 9, 2009): http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090102082248.htm
Peer-reviewed Literature (in addition to the citations listed in the article)
• Cressy, D. 2009. Future fish. Nature 458: 398-400.
• Brander, K.M. 2007. Climate change and food security: Global fish production and climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104: 19709-19714.
• Neori, A., M. Troell, T. Chopin, C. Yarish, A. Critchley, and A.H. Buschmann. 2007. The need for a balanced ecosystem approach to blue revolution aquaculture. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 49: 36-43.
Key Concepts
• Ecosystem health
• Deep water aquaculture
• Integrated multitrophic management
