Mjög er litið til fiskeldis sem hluta af lausninni við að mæta vaxandi próteinþörf á heimsvísu. Aðföng í fóðrið fyrir eldisfiskinn eru þó ekki einföld og geta skapað alvarleg vandamál eins og er farið yfir í þessari sláandi fréttaskýringu frá Reuters.
Eftirspurn fiskeldisfyritækja eftir fiskimjöl er svo mikil að stór hluti sardínuafla sem kemur úr sjó við vesturströnd Afríku fer nú í bræðslu en ekki á matardiska heimafólks eins og áður. Þessi mikla eftirspurn er farin að valda ofveiði. Hækkandi sjávarhiti vegna loftslagsbreytinga af mannavöldum hefur líka mjög slæm áhrif á sardínustofnana sem gerir útlitið enn dekkra.
„One of the world’s fastest-growing food sectors, aquaculture is rapidly overtaking wild-capture fisheries as the biggest source of fish for human consumption.
From the shrimp ponds of China’s river deltas to the salmon cages of Norway’s fjords, the industry thrives by feeding fish to other fish. Its needs are so voracious, roughly 20 percent of the world’s wild-caught fish don’t even go near anyone’s plate but are instead ground up to make fishmeal.
… But in the rush for sardinella, global business interests are snatching a staple of West Africa’s diet from the people who need it the most. And the blades of the grinding machines are posing a new threat to the species at a time when climate change already has sardinella swimming for its life. …
Demand for fishmeal has already caused Mauritania’s annual catch of sardinella to surge from 440,000 tons to 770,000 tons within the space of a few years, according to a European Union-funded report published in 2015. Senegalese boats working under contract to the plants increased their landings tenfold between 2008 and 2012 alone, the report found. The Canary Current’s fish stocks, marine scientists say, won’t be able to withstand this kind of pressure for much longer.“
