10 Status and Future Perspectives in Aquaculture
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biopolymers, like alginate, carrageenans, and agars, which are widely used, for
example as additives for food and for pharmacological and medical purposes.
It will be highly beneficial to also exploit the lipids from the harvested macroalgae
that are processed to isolate polysaccharides, which may require a modified industrial extraction process. This, together with the fact that macroalgae contain only
low contents of lipids, some 2% of dry matter, may explain why this resource is still
not exploited as a source of lipids.
If a cost efficient controlled production of the food used in mariculture is established, mariculture is likely to generate changes of a scale equivalent to a new paradigm. It was first in the 20th century that domesticated animals were mainly fed
cultured plants, alone or as a supplement to harvested plants. This was probably
made possible by the introduction of cheap artificial fertilisers and improved technology, and it represented a new step towards full control with the agriculture food
cycle, which thereafter has developed very rapidly to the western type of highly
industrial and controlled agriculture of today.
To produce animal biomass for fish feed may seem unlikely, but mass production of a “single cell biomass” of marine quality seems more feasible and closer. A
microorganism with marine lipids that can be grown based on for example cheap
carbohydrates or methane has not yet been identified, but it has indeed already been
searched for (Hinzpeter et al. 2006). It is perhaps most likely that such an organism
will be produced using modern genetic methods (GMO). An alternative is that
genetically modified higher plants will be used to produce marine lipids (Napier
et al. 2004).
Based on the above premises and discussion, we can infer that mariculture
development will be heavily dependent on the availability of resources for fish feed.
The situations that may develop as a result of our ability to derive new bio-resources
for fish feed can be illustrated by the following three scenarios for 2050, which
indeed are both subjective and speculative:
Scenario 1 – No new marine feed resource for mariculture is made available
Scenario 2 – Large herbivore zooplankton stocks are utilised for fish feed in addition to agriculture products
Scenario 3 – Equal to Scenario 2, but “single cell biomass” becomes gradually
available
The first scenario assumes that no new marine-type feed resources become available in
the period (2000–2050), only new resources from agriculture become available.
The second scenario assumes that harvested herbivore zooplankton develops into
an additional major new resource. In the third scenario, zooplankton is still a new
resource, but a marine type “single cell biomass” produced based on methane
becomes gradually available by ca 2020 and is the major component of fish feed in
2050. The last scenario implies that feed for fish is no longer produced based on
resources that could be used directly for human food. The use of methane as a
substrate for single cell biomass production, primarily derived from human waste
degradation, represents a potential sustainable, ecological, and everlasting resource
for human food production, and aquaculture would have, like agriculture, full control
of its food chain.
307
biopolymers, like alginate, carrageenans, and agars, which are widely used, for
example as additives for food and for pharmacological and medical purposes.
It will be highly beneficial to also exploit the lipids from the harvested macroalgae
that are processed to isolate polysaccharides, which may require a modified industrial extraction process. This, together with the fact that macroalgae contain only
low contents of lipids, some 2% of dry matter, may explain why this resource is still
not exploited as a source of lipids.
If a cost efficient controlled production of the food used in mariculture is established, mariculture is likely to generate changes of a scale equivalent to a new paradigm. It was first in the 20th century that domesticated animals were mainly fed
cultured plants, alone or as a supplement to harvested plants. This was probably
made possible by the introduction of cheap artificial fertilisers and improved technology, and it represented a new step towards full control with the agriculture food
cycle, which thereafter has developed very rapidly to the western type of highly
industrial and controlled agriculture of today.
To produce animal biomass for fish feed may seem unlikely, but mass production of a “single cell biomass” of marine quality seems more feasible and closer. A
microorganism with marine lipids that can be grown based on for example cheap
carbohydrates or methane has not yet been identified, but it has indeed already been
searched for (Hinzpeter et al. 2006). It is perhaps most likely that such an organism
will be produced using modern genetic methods (GMO). An alternative is that
genetically modified higher plants will be used to produce marine lipids (Napier
et al. 2004).
Based on the above premises and discussion, we can infer that mariculture
development will be heavily dependent on the availability of resources for fish feed.
The situations that may develop as a result of our ability to derive new bio-resources
for fish feed can be illustrated by the following three scenarios for 2050, which
indeed are both subjective and speculative:
Scenario 1 – No new marine feed resource for mariculture is made available
Scenario 2 – Large herbivore zooplankton stocks are utilised for fish feed in addition to agriculture products
Scenario 3 – Equal to Scenario 2, but “single cell biomass” becomes gradually
available
The first scenario assumes that no new marine-type feed resources become available in
the period (2000–2050), only new resources from agriculture become available.
The second scenario assumes that harvested herbivore zooplankton develops into
an additional major new resource. In the third scenario, zooplankton is still a new
resource, but a marine type “single cell biomass” produced based on methane
becomes gradually available by ca 2020 and is the major component of fish feed in
2050. The last scenario implies that feed for fish is no longer produced based on
resources that could be used directly for human food. The use of methane as a
substrate for single cell biomass production, primarily derived from human waste
degradation, represents a potential sustainable, ecological, and everlasting resource
for human food production, and aquaculture would have, like agriculture, full control
of its food chain.