Download OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE AND THE FUTURE OF SEAFOOD PRODUCTION

OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE AND
THE FUTURE OF SEAFOOD PRODUCTION
Daniel Benetti
Chairman, Marine Affairs and Policy
Associate Professor and Director of Aquaculture
RSMAS - University of Miami
The Future of Seafood Production
Why Aquaculture / Why Offshore?
Facts and trends:
¾ Fish consumption increasing, world population growing (FAO, 2003)
¾ Overfishing: 75% of ocean fisheries fully exploited (many stocks
collapsed)
¾ Oceans are in deep trouble (2004 Ocean Comm. Rep.; 2004 PEW
Rep.)
¾ US seafood trade déficit > $ 8 Billion /year and growing
Bottom line:
¾ Increases in seafood production are unlikely to come from fisheries
¾ Over 30% of total world fishery production from aquaculture
¾World aquaculture production has been steadily increasing at >10% per year
over the last decade
Aquaculture, bait fish & fishmeal
Data from Tacon, A.G.J., 2003 and Allen, G. 2004
MMT
40.0
Aquaculture production
35.0
30.0
25.0
20.0
Landings of “bait” fish
15.0
10.0
Fishmeal production
5.0
00
20
98
19
96
19
94
19
92
19
90
19
88
19
86
19
19
84
0.0
Global Aquaculture Growth Jobs and Production
Currently, the global aquaculture industry employs over 100 million people.
By 2020, employment from aquaculture is predicted to grow substantially.
Aquaculture Production
International Food Policy Research Institute, 2003
120
Billions of Pounds
•
•
100
80
60
40
20
0
Today
2020
“A new way to feed the world”
“The future of food”
“Aquaculture is a good thing, in
spite of environmentalists concerns”
“… the inevitable..”
J. Marras (Nature, July 2005)
At stake:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Not whether, if or when but how and where it will expand:
- Traditional or new technology?
- Inland/Coastal /Open ocean / Offshore?
- US or abroad?
What can happen/What should happen (seafood/energy)
Precautionary approach/sustainable development
What ifs? California wine industry Napa; Silicone Valey
Can “sustainable” aquaculture be economically feasible?
Is the technology to move/expand aquaculture offshore
(into the EEZ) in place?
CURRENT STATUS
• Technology limits move towards futuristic, fully automated,
“self-sustained” farms offshore (EEZ)
• Oil/gas platforms hold promise but cost/liability prohibitive
WHERE ARE WE AT?
Exposed areas (adequate depth+current)
Near shore, within State waters
CULEBRA, PUERTO RICO
ELEUTHERA, BAHAMAS
SeaStation 3000 - Ocean Spar, Net Systems (U.S.)
Culebra, Puerto Rico
Snapperfarm, Inc.
Cage volume = 3000 m3
Average current velocity = 0.5 knot
Depth = 25-30 m (90-100 ft)
H2O flow > 2 billion liters/day
(>600 million gl/day)
Eleuthera, Bahamas
AquaSense Bahamas, Ltd.
OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE
OPEN OCEAN AQUAFARM - NOT JUST A CONCEPT ANYMORE…
CONCEPTUAL OFFSHORE SUSTAINABLE AQUAFARM
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/groups/aquaculture
SPECIES
1) Native /endemic to the region (SE US, Gulf and the Caribbean)
2) High market demand and value
3) Technology developed/available from egg to market (hatchery produced)
4) High Aquaculture performance: growth, survival and feed conversion rate
Cobia (Rachycentron canadum)
Mutton Snapper (Lutjanus analis)
HATCHERY TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED IN THE U.S.
COBIA Rachycentron canadum
20 days old
Yolk-sac larvae - 1 day old
45 days old (4.5 in)
2 days old
8 weeks (80 grams!)
10 days old
Comparative Growth During Early Developmental Stages
45 DPH (Days Post Hatch) – 6 weeks
Cobia
5.5 g; 11.5 cm (4.5 in)
Snapper
0.2 g; 2.0 cm (1.0 in)
HATCHERY TECHNOLOGY
Extensive larval rearing in ponds
(natural plankton blooms)
Fist trials carried out at the University of Miami Experimental Hatchery in
May/June 2005 produced tens of thousand of healthy cobia fingerlings
KONA BLUE
HAWAII
KAHALA
(a.k.a. Seriola rivoliana)
GROWOUT
Snapperfarm and AquaSense cobia are
produced without the use of any antibiotics,
hormones, pigments, or pesticides.
Grown offshore, far from pollution sources
Organic Cobia!?
[Ethoxyquin, a synthetically-derived antioxidant
(stabilizer) used to prevent oxidation, rancidity.]
Extraordinary Rates of Growth and
Feed Conversion Efficiency (FCR)
at Low Environmental Impact
GROWTH RATES OF COBIA CULTURED IN OPEN
OCEAN CAGES IN PUERTO RICO AND THE BAHAMAS
8000
7000
6000
Lower stocking density
Higher temperature
5000
4000
3000
2000
Higher stocking density
Lower temperature
1000
0
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Age (days)
Environmental and economic sustainability of operations?
Growth rate is inversely proportional to stocking density
Mortality rate is directly proportional to stocking density
Environmental Assessment
• Physical factors
–
–
–
–
–
–
Bathymetry (depth profile)
Bottom type (preferred sandy)
Coastal topography
Wind velocity/direction/fetch
Currents and tides
Wave height
(max/min/average)
– Air and water temperature
– Turbidity
• Biological factors
–
–
–
–
–
–
Fouling
Chlorophyll
Productivity
HABs
Assemblage
Benthic studies
• Chemical factors
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Total suspended solids
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Phosphate
Dissolved oxygen
Organic matter
Nitrogen
• Socio-economic factors
– Acceptance of project
– Local communities
– Partnership Fishermen Association
• Educational factors
– Elementary / High School /
Technical Level Curricula
– Teachers’ Materials / Talks, etc.
Environmental Assessment
Summary of Results - Puerto Rico
Dissolved nutrients in the
water column
Snapper
Cobia
6.0
Control
0.004
5.5
0.004
5.0
% organic matter
0.003
0.003
mg/L
Organic matter in the sediments
at the cages and control site
0.002
0.002
4.76
4.68
4.75
Snapper
Cobia
Control
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
0.001
2.0
0.001
1.5
0.000
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Phosphate
1.0
Environmental Assessment
Summary of Results - Bahamas
Average Water Column Chlorophyll a
November 2003 - December 2004
Average Benthic Chlorophyll-a
November 2003 - December 2004
0.2
40
0.18
35
micrograms/m2
micrograms/m2
0.16
0.14
0.12
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
30
25
20
15
10
5
0.02
0
0
10
100
300
Distance (m)
500 (Control)
0
10
100
Distance (m)
300
500 (control)
Summary of Environmental Studies
(Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Hawaii, New Hampshire)
•
Environmental data from Puerto Rico and the Bahamas indicate that
there are no significant changes in the water column and benthic
ecosystems near the area.
•
There were no significant differences in any of the water quality
parameters measured in the area surrounding and beneath the cages
- except for small localized benthic impact just underneath the cages
•
No samples had values in excess of allowable values under the
NPDES permits
•
Data are from small scale, demonstration projects
•
Need to continue environmental monitoring studies as operations
expand to determine whether/when a threshold level may occur
Benetti, Brand, Helsey, Langan, Alston, Cabarcas, Collins (in prep)
PROBLEMS:
HURRICANES
• In 2004, the cages were exposed to
severe storms, including category 4 Cage Location
Hurricane Frances
• WINDS ranging from 70-100 miles/hr
prevailed in the area where one of the
cages is deployed in South Eleuthera
for almost 24 hours
•
No damage to the cage or fish
mortality were observed
SHARK PREDATION
ESCAPEMENTS
HARVESTING/PROCESSING/SHIPPING
HIGH-QUALITY PRODUCT…
… FOR A HIGH-END MARKET
SUMMARY
• Objective is to produce high-quality fish for high-end market seeking profits
and lowering US seafood trade deficit ($ 8B)
• New technology has been developed from egg to market: new species (moi,
kahala, cobia) production has been added to market
• Results suggest that growing this species in exposed sites can produce high
yields of fish with low environmental impact
• Results suggest that, properly sited and managed, aquaculture of high-value
fish can be conducted responsibly
• Must be integral component of NOAA Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management
Plan and Coastal Management Plans
• It will be difficult to compete with production from abroad; environmental and
technological prospects seem great; economic prospects do not
SUMMARY - THE FUTURE
• Anti-predator systems including predator nets, shark pods, electromagnetic fields and
chemical/electrical repellants (passive deterrent methods)
• Facilitate permits for demonstration projects and to expand currently permitted
operations to reach economic feasibility
• Continue mandatory environmental monitoring studies to ensure sustainability and
determine threshold to limit production/unit area
• Expansion of offshore aquaculture will be driven by economic and environmental
concerns combining the needs from the industry, government agencies,
NGO’s, press and the public at large
• Move/develop the industry abroad with great losses (e.g. quality control, employment,
social/economic losses, dependence foreign production; seafood trade déficit)
• What can happen: to buy more seafood/energy abroad
• What should happen: to produce more seafood/energy at home
THANKS!
Aquaculture Research Council
Florida Department of Agriculture - Division of Aquaculture
Four cages are now on site: two nursery cages, and two submersible Sea
Stations. Four more Sea Stations will be deployed over the next year.
Kona Blue’s submersible Sea Station cages, in waters over 200 ft deep,
offshore from the Kona Coast, off the Big Island of Hawaii
Total of 90,000 fish stocked in offshore cages to date.
First harvest September 1st, 2005. Mean weight 3.5 lbs
Kona Blue’s Kona Kampachi™ (Seriola rivoliana)