cannot take any more fishing pressure, and they cannot (and will not) produce any
more aquatic foods for humanity, and that seawater aquaculture (mariculture) is the
only solution to the world’s food supply but also to avoid a major biodiversity crisis
(Costa-Pierce 2016).
Most of the planet’s population has decided that its primary habitat in the
Anthropocene is on the world’s coasts, there are fewer and fewer coastal options to
develop coastal marine aquaculture. A New York Times series of articles on polluted
seas a few years ago, see especially their article “In China, Farming Fish in Toxic
Waters” (Barboza 2007) brings the challenge clearly to the world. In the world’s
“seafood nations” where aquatic foods are the most important to people, coastal
oceans and large lakes are damaged from land-based pollutants and toxicants,
making these most nutritious, nutrient-dense protein foods…toxic!
Global food security, human health and overall human welfare are in serious
jeopardy as the production of living marine/aquatic resources can no longer be
sustained by aquatic ecosystems and natural fisheries production. Expansion of
agriculture cannot meet future these protein needs without massive impacts on
forests, wildlife, nature reserves and parks (Zabel et al. 2014; Costa-Pierce 2016).
The only way we can proceed as an educated species is to develop mariculture that
does not harm capture fisheries, promote unsustainable agriculture, or damage the
integrity of aquatic ecosystems.
The drivers for open ocean aquaculture and offshore energy production are not
only food, trade, electricity, and technology. There are powerful social and ethical
concerns afloat. In some sort of weird “food insanity”, many Western nations
import most of the seafood they eat, and export most of what they catch or produce.
These nations are far too dependent on imports from aquaculture systems in nations
where aquaculture is threatened by coastal urbanization, industrialization, water
pollution, and overall environmental degradation. Such “food insane nations” also
have a moral and ethical responsibility to develop large-scale open ocean aquaculture to feed their own people and not take these valuable foods from
undernourished, food scarce nations. Similarly, a continued reliance on fossil fuels
by developed and developing nations is causing massive global climate change, a
path that is neither environmentally sound nor economically sustainable.
There are valuable examples in this book of the development of robust submerged technologies; but there remains an urgent need to accelerate the education
and training of open ocean aquaculture engineers; and to open wide the “aquaculture toolbox” to greater amounts of innovation. Norway leads the way globally
in this regard; and New Zealand too, with that country now having about 10,000 ha
of permitted areas for open ocean shellfish farming.
The use of offshore wind farms as multi-use platforms appears to be especially
promising. A chapter in this volume reports that a 10% reduction in of O&M costs
is possible for wind farms if aquaculture was combined. As shown in Germany’s
pioneering efforts, such combined food-energy systems in the offshore requires a
high level of research and development funding as not only the development of
innovative technologies is required, but also the need for marine spatial planning,
and transparent, adaptive management processes to ensure economies of scope and
vi
Preface
more aquatic foods for humanity, and that seawater aquaculture (mariculture) is the
only solution to the world’s food supply but also to avoid a major biodiversity crisis
(Costa-Pierce 2016).
Most of the planet’s population has decided that its primary habitat in the
Anthropocene is on the world’s coasts, there are fewer and fewer coastal options to
develop coastal marine aquaculture. A New York Times series of articles on polluted
seas a few years ago, see especially their article “In China, Farming Fish in Toxic
Waters” (Barboza 2007) brings the challenge clearly to the world. In the world’s
“seafood nations” where aquatic foods are the most important to people, coastal
oceans and large lakes are damaged from land-based pollutants and toxicants,
making these most nutritious, nutrient-dense protein foods…toxic!
Global food security, human health and overall human welfare are in serious
jeopardy as the production of living marine/aquatic resources can no longer be
sustained by aquatic ecosystems and natural fisheries production. Expansion of
agriculture cannot meet future these protein needs without massive impacts on
forests, wildlife, nature reserves and parks (Zabel et al. 2014; Costa-Pierce 2016).
The only way we can proceed as an educated species is to develop mariculture that
does not harm capture fisheries, promote unsustainable agriculture, or damage the
integrity of aquatic ecosystems.
The drivers for open ocean aquaculture and offshore energy production are not
only food, trade, electricity, and technology. There are powerful social and ethical
concerns afloat. In some sort of weird “food insanity”, many Western nations
import most of the seafood they eat, and export most of what they catch or produce.
These nations are far too dependent on imports from aquaculture systems in nations
where aquaculture is threatened by coastal urbanization, industrialization, water
pollution, and overall environmental degradation. Such “food insane nations” also
have a moral and ethical responsibility to develop large-scale open ocean aquaculture to feed their own people and not take these valuable foods from
undernourished, food scarce nations. Similarly, a continued reliance on fossil fuels
by developed and developing nations is causing massive global climate change, a
path that is neither environmentally sound nor economically sustainable.
There are valuable examples in this book of the development of robust submerged technologies; but there remains an urgent need to accelerate the education
and training of open ocean aquaculture engineers; and to open wide the “aquaculture toolbox” to greater amounts of innovation. Norway leads the way globally
in this regard; and New Zealand too, with that country now having about 10,000 ha
of permitted areas for open ocean shellfish farming.
The use of offshore wind farms as multi-use platforms appears to be especially
promising. A chapter in this volume reports that a 10% reduction in of O&M costs
is possible for wind farms if aquaculture was combined. As shown in Germany’s
pioneering efforts, such combined food-energy systems in the offshore requires a
high level of research and development funding as not only the development of
innovative technologies is required, but also the need for marine spatial planning,
and transparent, adaptive management processes to ensure economies of scope and
vi
Preface