hehe, cant link direct to the page. heres what it says.
New study reveals that Scottish aquaculture
is adding to pressure on world fish stocks
A new report, Feeding the Fish, released today (24th September) reveals that fish feed manufacturers are using threatened fish stocks to supply the Scottish aquaculture industry with salmon feed. Scotland is responsible for approximately 90% of all UK aquaculture production and ranks third amongst the world producers of Atlantic salmon, after Norway and Chile.
Salmon need high-protein diets, and depend largely on fish meal and oil from wild ?feed? fish caught by ?feed fisheries? in the North Atlantic and off South America. Three of the world?s largest fisheries are ?feed fisheries?, providing food for farmed fish and livestock, and it is expected that the global demand for fishmeal will increase by 50% to reach 3.45 million tonnes by 2010. There are growing concerns about the impacts of these fisheries on the fish stocks themselves and on the marine food chain, but little real action is being taken to tackle these concerns. While the UK livestock industry is also a major consumer of fishmeal, the share consumed by aquaculture has shown a dramatic increase in recent years. Atlantic salmon farming in Scotland, which represents 95 % of aquaculture production, has increased nearly six-fold since the early 1990s to 176,596 tonnes in 2003, and the industry hopes to expand by a further 16 % by 2010.
?Industrial fish farming is the fastest growing sector of the global food economy and Scotland is one of the largest salmon producers in this market. To feed these quantities of farmed salmon serious pressure is being placed on populations of small feed fish and questions must be raised about the sustainability of the feed fish industry, in particular blue whiting,? said Dr Rebecca Boyd, Joint Marine Programme Officer.
RSPB Scotland and the Joint Marine Programme (JMP), a partnership of WWF Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, who commissioned the report Feeding the Fish, are calling on the Scottish Executive to work with Scottish feed and fish producers to stop sourcing feed from unsustainable fisheries.
?The long-term future of the aquaculture industry, as well as the health of the marine environment, depends on healthy populations of feed fish. As a major consumer of feed fish, Scotland has an opportunity to market its product on quality credentials and find a solution that does not just plunder the world?s oceans further afield. Sadly, only a tiny proportion of Scottish fish producers refuse to use blue whiting. Industrial feed fisheries are certainly a global issue, but Scotland can?t just stand back and claim it is someone else?s problem?, added Dr Rebecca Boyd, Joint Marine Programme Officer.
Of the top six feed fisheries used by Scotland?s aquaculture industry, blue whiting from the North Atlantic are particularly at risk, with 2.3 million tonnes, four times the recommended safe quota, being caught in 2003. Horse mackerel catches are considered too high to sustain the fishery, while there are serious concerns over the impacts on other fish, seabirds and mammals like whales and dolphins of removing large quantities of Chilean jack mackerel, Peruvian anchovy, capelin and sandeel from the marine food chain.