Aquaculture's Rapid Growth Creates Unforeseen Animal Welfare and Environmental Crises

Key Quotes

"in 2022 for the first time humans ate more fish that came from farms than fish that came from the sea many of us think that this is much better more ethical more environmentally sound than overfishing wild fish from the oceans so why not expand it"

Kenny Torrella explains that in 2022, farmed fish consumption surpassed wild-caught fish for the first time. This shift leads many to believe aquaculture is a more ethical and environmentally friendly alternative to overfishing, prompting discussions about its expansion.

"aquatic domestication occurred a hundred times faster than the domestication of land animals and on such a bigger scale how big kenny is the fish farming industry well for context today there's around 85 billion land animals mostly chickens pigs and cows farmed each year but there's an estimated 760 billion fish and crustaceans which is a figure that is projected to quickly grow"

Kenny Torrella highlights the unprecedented speed and scale of aquatic domestication, noting it occurred a hundred times faster than land animals. Torrella provides context by stating that while 85 billion land animals are farmed annually, this number is dwarfed by the estimated 760 billion fish and crustaceans, a figure expected to rise significantly.

"salmon farming has also become a flashpoint among environmentalists in norway canada in the uk even in the us you know washington state banned salmon farming earlier this year because when you cram so many animals into the ocean and all of their waste it leads to a lot of pollution"

Kenny Torrella points out that salmon farming has become a contentious issue for environmentalists across several countries. Torrella notes that the practice of concentrating large numbers of animals in ocean cages, along with their waste, results in significant pollution, leading to actions like Washington State's ban on salmon farming.

"according to stanford's center for environmental science and policy one pound of salmon takes about 2 4 pounds of other wild fish to produce usually sardines anchovies mackerel herring and so on some of this fish meal does come from fish byproducts and scraps from other fish that have been processed to be eaten but most of it comes from wild caught fish that are being caught just to feed the salmon"

Kenny Torrella cites Stanford's Center for Environmental Science and Policy to illustrate the resource-intensive nature of salmon farming. Torrella explains that producing one pound of salmon requires approximately 2.4 pounds of wild fish, such as sardines and anchovies, with most of these being caught specifically to feed farmed salmon.

"since the 1970s tens of millions of farm salmon have managed to escape their cages and make their way into the ocean thousands of atlantic salmon that escaped from a fish farm to the east of victoria into the open waters of puget sound the pacific ocean you're introducing a non native invasive species into an environment where you don't know what the potential outcome might be"

Kenny Torrella discusses the significant issue of escaped farmed salmon, estimating tens of millions have escaped their cages since the 1970s. Torrella emphasizes that these escaped fish are non-native invasive species, introducing an unknown potential outcome into the marine environment.

"for a long time the scientific consensus was essentially that fish don't feel pain or much of anything at all but it was a belief without a lot of evidence you know few scientists had really looked into the question but in the early 2000s a small group of researchers at the university of edinburgh began to think seriously about fish and their work has really helped to shift the consensus around fish pain"

Kenny Torrella explains that for a considerable period, the scientific community largely believed fish did not feel pain, a view lacking substantial evidence. Torrella notes that a shift began in the early 2000s with researchers at the University of Edinburgh, whose work has significantly altered the consensus on fish pain perception.