Fish farming is no environmental nightmare

David McGrath’s recent oped in the Sun-Times misinforms and overlooks the facts about the sustainability of offshore aquaculture and its minimal environmental impact.

The aquaculture industry utilizes science-based practices to most efficiently produce farm-raised seafood, which helps protect and preserve our natural resources in a changing climate.

Proper siting, management, monitoring and the use of modern technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, have made aquaculture a safe and environmentally sound approach to increasing the world’s growing seafood supply. We must produce 30 million tons of seafood to keep up with population growth and increasing consumption of seafood.

With a far lower environmental impact than any terrestrial means of meat production, aquaculture is one of the most efficient methods of producing animal protein.

There is an increasing set of scientific evidence that demonstrates the low impact of farmed fish production on the environment. A study released in 2019 from the University of Miami School of Marine and Atmospheric Science found minimal environmental impacts to the surrounding waters from properly sited fish-farming operations.

Also last year, in a State of the Science Briefing on U.S. Marine Aquaculture prepared for members of Congress, the Aquarium of the Pacific’s Seafood for the Future program reported that shellfish and seaweed aquaculture help clean the water, which improves water quality and supports healthy ocean environments and shorelines. Their research also shows that seaweed aquaculture may help counter the effects of ocean acidification.

Support for offshore aquaculture in federal waters is growing. Bipartisan federal legislation was recently announced that would authorize a fair and judicious permitting process, environmental protections and oversight for aquaculture to thrive in the U.S.

As momentum builds for the industry, American communities should have an accurate representation of aquaculture’s sustainability.