Optimism for the Blue Revolution of Aquaculture as Our World Population Advances toward 10 Billion

Premises and facts: 

     Food is humanity’s most precious substance because without it we simply cease to exist.  Sustainability is most simply defined as making sure future generations can produce enough food to survive.

     Ten Thousand years ago was the birth of agriculture and the beginning of the human race’s dramatic journey toward the year 2050 at which time we will most likely have 10 Billion of us living on this Blue Planet. Our unique ability to ever-increase our food production capabilities, our technologies, and our human population all make this 2050 destination a firm possibility.

     Humans have maximized all the available land for both crop and livestock production and by doing so have displaced or eliminated the vast majority of Earth’s wild land animals and plants and caused a multitude of environmental issues. Since ten thousand years ago, we have increased our world population from about ten million to over seven Billion.  During this short time span, we have created major environmental negative consequences that today are finally being recognized and confronted by the nations of the world.  This growing consensus is exemplified by the historic Paris Agreement COP21 that was signed in December of 2015 to decrease global warming (climate change) by agreeing to decrease our atmospheric emissions of CO2.

Conclusions:

     Agriculture, energy production, population increase and the other multiple emitters of CO2 have all been the main drivers of human advancement, but they have also produced the negative environmental consequences that we are attempting to confront today.

Optimism:

      By advancing the Blue Revolution , which is producing food from aquaculture, we will reduce our CO2 emissions and become more efficient users of our Earth’s natural resources.  In doing so, we can better accomplish the simple definition of Sustainability: making sure future generations can produce enough food to survive.

Sincerely, Dave Glaubke – Director of Sustainability Initiatives – Sea Port Products Corp.

NOAA’s Proposed Trusted Trader Program to Streamline their Upcoming Seafood Import Monitoring Program for Species at Risk for IUU Fishing and Fraud, Should Qualify all Aquaculture and all Countries and RFMOs That have Responsible Wild Fisheries Management Schemes in Place.

·         Over half of the world’s production of seafood now comes from aquaculture and there is negligible IUU fishing associated with this fastest growing animal protein production system. Therefore, farm raised seafood suppliers should automatically be given Trusted Trader status.

·         Entire Countries and RFMOs that have proven that they have responsible wild fishery management schemes in place should be given Trusted Trader status.  Examples:  Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, and Canada.

·         Sea Port views S.E. Asia, China, India, and Africa as the primary producers of wild fisheries that have very poor or nonexistent responsible fisheries management schemes.  NOAA’s limited time, energy, and funds should be specifically focused on these regions of the world.

In short, the Trusted Trader Program should, by default, be given to all aquaculture producers and to any country or RFMO that has demonstrated responsible wild fisheries management capabilities.

In contrast, S.E. Asia, India, Africa, and China are monster problems when it comes to IUU fishing and they are in their infancy in implementing sustainable ocean policies and schemes that protect, conserve, and sustainably harvest wild food from our one world ocean.  Focusing on the wild fisheries in these regions of the world is more than appropriate while burdening aquaculture and responsible countries and RFMOs is more than inappropriate.

NOAA’s Trusted Trader Program needs to trust that aquaculture is essentially free of IUU and that the responsibly managed wild fisheries of the world are too.