Aquaculture is the intentional cultivation of aquatic organisms like fish, mollusks, and aquatic plants, and humans have been practicing it in various forms for thousands of years.
If I asked you to picture what aquaculture looks like, there’s a good chance that if anything comes to mind, it would be environmentally destructive salmon farms, which are basically the underwater equivalent to confined factory animal farming operations.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Aquaculture can be not only sustainable, but environmentally regenerative.
The Pacific Northwest is ripe for a boom in aquaculture, but we need to do it right.
So I reached out to Megan Considine of The Nature Conservancy and Steve Rumrill with the Oregon Department of fish and wildlife to learn more about the potential and risks with this burgeoning industry.
Quick note: we had some technical difficulties with Steve’s audio, but he is a wealth of knowledge and experience, so I felt that it was important to leave in.
As always, I love hearing feedback and guest ideas! My email is [email protected].
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Links and Resources:
- TNC restorative aquaculture document: https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/TNC_PrinciplesofRestorativeAquaculture.pdf
- Greenpeace Article on Aquaculture: https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/wp-content/uploads/legacy/Global/usa/report/2008/3/challenging-aquaculture.pdf
- Oregon Kelp Alliance: https://www.oregonkelp.com/
- Hakai Magazine Series on Aquaculture: https://hakaimagazine.com/features/big-fish-the-aquacultural-revolution/