Restorative aquaculture

June 9 2021

BioMar is increasingly convinced that sustainable aquaculture must include restorative practices. In agricultural systems, the term regenerative implies to seek to rehabilitate and enhance the entire ecosystem of a farm. We need to think about restorative aquaculture in the same way.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has acknowledged the crucial role of aquaculture in food security and nutrition, economic equality, and environmental sustainability.

Qu Dongyu, the Director-General of the FAO, states in the SOFIA report that the global share of under or malnourished people is growing. The world will need to employ innovative solutions to produce more food and improve nutrition.

BioMar is increasingly convinced that sustainable aquaculture must include restorative practices. In agricultural systems, the term regenerative implies to seek to rehabilitate and enhance the entire ecosystem of a farm. We need to think about restorative aquaculture in the same way.

While capture fisheries will remain relevant, aquaculture has already demonstrated its importance to global food security. However, because increased production cannot come at the expense of the environment, new sustainable aquaculture strategies are required.

Through the European Green Deal, the FAO and the EU Commission have developed guidelines for sustainable aquaculture within a broader framework for more inclusive, efficient, and resilient agri-food systems.

Sustainable development has been defined as satisfying fundamental human needs today without compromising future generations' ability to satisfy theirs. This involves finding the right balance between environmental, societal and economic impacts, whilst ensuring natural resources are available indefinitely.

The idea behind regenerative design and actions is to develop dynamic and restorative systems to revitalise communities, human and natural resources, and society. This is the natural next step in the evolution of sustainable aquaculture.

A definition of restorative aquaculture does not yet exist, however, regenerative agriculture has been proposed as a method of farming practices that seek to rehabilitate and enhance the entire ecosystem of a farm. Key principles include optimising soil health, water management, fertilizer use, and increasing biodiversity – resulting in improvements in the carbon, nutrient, and water cycles.

As a recognised leader in sustainability, BioMar believes that restorative practices can help raise the bar for defining a sustainable aquaculture system.

A truly restorative and sustainable aquaculture system will need to include farm level ecosystem enhancements. One promising method is integrated multitrophic aquaculture, where nutrients are up-cycled back into the food chain while reducing emissions.

In BioMar we actively take action for our areas of responsibility. We encourage and stimulate restorative practices in our supply chain, and we have set ambitious targets for minimum inclusion levels of circular and restorative ingredients.