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Aquaculture – What I’ll Be Tracking in 2025

Having faced unprecedented hurdles such as economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as other obstacles such as climate change, rising feed prices and operational expenses, aquaculture has had some challenging years. However, the industry is projected to supply over 60% of global fish consumption by 2025, and as we enter this new year, it is very much in the spotlight, with technology, innovation and research driving things forward. There are also strong expectations that production volumes are expected to grow. In my first blog entry of 2025, I take a look at the outlook for aquaculture and what has resonated with me so far.

The Rise of AI
Technology and AI have continued to make their mark on aquaculture. Last year saw a range of news stories describing a series of advances, where producers are using machine learning to monitor systems, sort animals and products, and automate feedings.

Indeed, artificial intelligence, or AI, was a key topic at last year’s Responsible Seafood Summit in St Andrews, Scotland. Chris van der Kuyl, chairman of Ace Aquatec, discussed the relationship between AI and the seafood industry, and the important role AI plays in meeting food security needs. Over the years, rising costs, climate challenges and persistent uncertainties have challenged aquaculture, so innovative tools like AI are highly likely to be implemented further in 2025. Modern solutions like this can help farmers optimise their operations through data-driven decision making, reducing the need for extensive on-site staff while improving efficiency. Real-time insights are also expected to drive significant progress. Producers have already seen some of the benefits of AI, such as its ability to detect and alert farmers to subtle changes in fish behaviour or growth rates, and these benefits will become all the more important, for example as farms move further away from shore and there is a greater need to automate processes such as feeding, and tracking fish growth and weight remotely.

Farms in South Africa are also reaping the benefits of AI. Dominion Solutions, a South African firm, is developing digital tools and systems that can help farmers monitor fish behaviour using AI. Founder and CEO Shongwe Thembeka says that a lack of access to land and sea space, a small pool of skills and knowledge, and limited access to funding and investment are all reasons why South Africa’s aquaculture sector is lagging behind. She hopes to address the challenges fish farmers face with a precision aquaculture tool called AquaBrain Net that optimises feeding by monitoring fish behaviour and generating feeding schedules so that feed is distributed efficiently and waste is reduced.

Digitalisation to improve controlling of a fish farm in Asia. Credit Siemens

In the Spotlight – Animal Welfare
Fish are farmed in higher numbers than any other animal, but they haven’t had much attention from the animal welfare movement, that is, until now. Continuing research into areas such as fish pain has offered a greater insight into fish than ever before, while growing consumer concerns for animal welfare are encouraging aquaculture to improve its fish welfare practices. Fish farmed in environments with reduced stress leads to better, all-round conditions for farmers and their animals, decreased mortality, better yields for farmers, and more flavourful fish for the consumer. From farming and transportation practices to pre-slaughter manipulations and stunning technology, more operators are seeing value in creating reduced-stress environments.

Another company that made headlines at last year’s Responsible Seafood Summit was FAI Farms, which trains farmers to improve welfare and achieve better production outcomes in tilapia, shrimp and carp farming. With partners in Thailand, Brazil and China, FAI Farms gives farmers the knowledge and practical tools that they need to improve the lives of the species they farm. Online courses with modules on welfare indicators, nutrition, health, environment and humane slaughter teach farmers how to implement welfare practices in their daily routine. Results and improvements can be shared with processors and retailers to highlight positive welfare practices. Last year, together with Ethical Seafood Research (ESR) in Scotland, FAI Farms launched the Egypt Tilapia Welfare Project to improve the production practices of Egyptian small-scale tilapia farmers and ensure that they have the resources to take better care of their fish, monitor water quality, and reduce unnecessary stressors such as handling procedures.

Meanwhile, at the end of last year, the European Union Reference Centre for Animal Welfare in Aquaculture (EURCAW Aqua) launched a new digital platform to deepen understanding around aquatic animal welfare. The platform is a resource containing research information, expert insights and practical tools designed to improve the lives of farmed fish, crustaceans, and molluscs. Examples include a knowledge hub of articles, best practices and technical guidance, interactive learning tools, webinars, and an updated feed with the latest news, insights from experts and details on upcoming conferences and training sessions.

These are two strong examples of aquaculture’s efforts to make improvements, and with consumers increasingly keen to know where their seafood comes from and how it’s been caught or farmed, these efforts couldn’t have come at a better time. With animal welfare likely to remain a strong focus this year as well, hopes are high that companies like FAI Farms and organisations like EURCAW Aqua can keep building relationships with farmers and work more collaboratively with aquaculture. There may also be opportunities to work with seafood certification programmes that look more at environmental concerns rather than animal welfare, or with researchers and the feed sector to change the composition of fish feed.

Grasping Public Perceptions
With interest in the origins of seafood likely to remain high, I hope that this year we will hear more about consumer perceptions of aquaculture and its products, and how aquaculture could work in line with these perceptions. The public has diverse expectations of the sector, and their attitudes are shaped either by their own experiences or by the type and degree of available information on aquaculture and what is involved. As aquaculture continues to grow in scale and value, it’s likely to be increasingly scrutinised going forward, and public perceptions will be of great importance when making further improvements.

Having often spoken to people outside aquaculture, my impression is that they are generally positive towards it. They understand why it exists, and perhaps even tolerate or accept it, but there are very strong concerns and more negative perceptions towards the environmental impact of production and how the animals in question are treated. Those I’ve spoken to have been a little reluctant to welcome production growth, while there are some differences in attitudes between those that do or don’t eat seafood, or who live close to or far from production areas such as seaweed farms.

Aquaculture has already made significant efforts to communicate with the public and use tools such as social media to highlight the types of activities involved and how production is carried out. Continuing such efforts will be key this year, and hopefully the sector will implement strategies to gauge different attitudes and communicate effectively with the public, for example by engaging more with mainstream media or groups that are interested in or involved in the transformation of food systems and that are viewed as credible by the public, hiring communication experts, and continuing to make full use of social media platforms, especially when reaching out to a younger audience. In the future, food production systems like aquaculture will need to become even more efficient, to produce more with fewer resources to feed a growing world population. In this sense, it will be important to communicate even better the important role of farmed fish. Aquaculture could also engage in more social science research to better understand the influence on public perceptions and how these are formed.

As we look to 2025, I anticipate even more significant advancements such as technology, machine learning and research, that could help to tackle resource constraints and address other key challenges. By taking steps to better engage with the public or embracing trends like AI and focusing on its practical implementation, aquaculture can contribute to a more resilient and productive future for food production. I believe that a commitment to research and technology-driven advancements will play significant roles in shaping this future, and am looking forward to seeing how aquaculture will position itself this year as a pivotal industry in addressing global food security and sustainability challenges.

Animal Health &Welfare – How Fisheries and Aquaculture Are Making A Difference

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In spring 2024, I wrote an article for Canada’s Hatchery International magazine on how fish health and welfare certification programmes have evolved over the past 25 years. With a growing movement in fisheries and aquaculture to make positive changes in this area, this particular story couldn’t have come at a better time.

Today, fisheries and aquaculture worldwide are paying more attention to health and welfare amidst an increased consumer interest in seafood safety and quality, and market demands for sustainably-sourced farmed and wild-caught seafood. To give a couple of examples, the 11th International Fisheries Symposium in Bangkok at the end of last year held several sessions on animal welfare, while just last month, a paper by the African Union’s InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and Ethical Seafood Research (ESR) highlighted the pivotal role of aquatic animals in Africa’s ecosystem and the importance of animal welfare to maintain ecosystem health and support sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. There has also been a strong focus on evidence that shows how fish can experience pain and suffering. With stressed animals bad for business, more operators are seeing value in creating less stressful environments.

Improving the health and welfare of aquatic animals has far-reaching implications for sustainable development. This was highlighted in an article by Catalina Lopez, director of the Aquatic Animal Alliance at Aquatic Life Institute. With better health and welfare in place, Lopez says, fisheries and aquaculture can forge a transformational path towards a more sustainable and equitable future.

Aquaculture
So how are both sectors taking steps to address animal welfare? Throughout the aquaculture production chain, various factors are considered to ensure that proper care is taken of the animals being reared. These include disease control, water quality, stocking density, transportation and slaughter methods. Certification programmes such as the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) Standards, for example, require farms to inspect water quality, behaviour and conditions of their animals regularly, and set limits for the amount of wild fish that can be used in fish feed depending on the species in question.

Meanwhile, researchers and companies are playing their part. At the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, researchers are studying responses to stress inducers in fish, such as vaccination and handling, and investigating whether these responses can be passed on through generations. Their aim is to establish breeding strategies that enable good health and welfare. Over in California, a tech startup called Shinkei is blending AI with an ancient Japanese slaughter method called Ikejime, which paralyses fish and drains them of blood. Shinkei’s system uses AI to detect the size and shape of each fish before using that information to identify the location of the brain. The mechanical component of the system then penetrates the brain, taking just a second of time and preventing fish from suffering for minutes on end.

Collaboration between research and industry also boosts the growth of aquaculture and promotes animal health and welfare, according to Ana Manuela de Azevedo at the University of Santiago de Compostela. Her work studying fish diseases aims to improve fish health and welfare and help aquaculture companies increase productivity and food safety. One area of her work involves optimized radiodiagnosis for Senegalese sole and established scales for assessing malformations at different stages of their development. Through this, she hopes to reduce anomalies in the species and improve product quality on farms.

Technology is also drawing attention in Egypt thanks to the Tilapia Welfare Project. With Egypt the top tilapia producer in Africa, the project gives farmers tools and knowledge to assess and improve welfare and enhance fish performance. Launched by FAI and Ethical Seafood Research (ESR), the project ‘s Tilapia Welfare App offers farmers a user-friendly platform to assess and manage the welfare of fish effectively.

Fisheries
Although the majority of my work focuses on aquaculture, I’ve always been impressed by fisheries’ efforts to address animal welfare too. One company that caught my attention a few months back is Precision Seafood Harvesting in New Zealand. This company has developed a modular harvesting system that improves fish welfare, optimises catch quality and reduces bycatch. Fish are contained and swim comfortably underwater inside a large flexible PVC liner. There, the correct size and species can be selected before being brought on board vessels. The system’s design also allows vessels to target specific species and fish size, and greatly increases protection for small fish that can swim free through escape portals, and bycatch, which are released unharmed. This is a huge step for commercial fishing, bringing great benefits not just in fish welfare but also in fish stocks and the environment.

It’s also very encouraging to see more fisheries conferences addressing the topic of fish welfare. In November 2023, the first ever Catch Welfare Platform conference was held in Norway. The key focus was pragmatic solutions to reduce individual stress levels in catch, including unwanted and released animals, and those to be slaughtered onboard. There was also a strong focus on humane slaughtering methods. Reducing stress can no doubt create premium market opportunities for seafood caught with good catch welfare standards.

Animal health and welfare in the context of fisheries and aquaculture can seem overwhelming. There are so many species, fishing operations and rearing environments to consider that no one solution can help every single situation and yet, meaningful progress in this area must come from a place of extreme understanding of the particular species or situation at hand. In this sense, it’s really encouraging to see the improvements that are being made. Fisheries and aquaculture are still adjusting as to how best to approach the issues that arise, but today’s efforts will no doubt make significant contributions to increasing operational resilience in both sectors.

A New Year – What’s Ahead for Aquaculture in 2024?

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At last year’s United Nations Climate Conference COP28, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations unveiled its Global Roadmap for Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) without Breaching the 1.5C Threshold. The roadmap identifies 120 actions and key milestones within ten domains, one of which is fisheries and aquaculture.

The FAO describes aquatic food as “a nutritional powerhouse, rich in protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins and vital minerals. It also supports millions, providing incomes and jobs, particularly in coastal regions, bolstering local economies and communities, and should also play an important role in the dietary shift to mitigate emissions.” It is encouraging to see that as we enter a new year, seafood continues to draw attention for many significant reasons.

I’m looking forward to finding out how aquaculture will develop this year, and so too, it seems, is Rabobank, which released its annual seafood production report at the end of 2023. According to the Dutch banking and financial services firm, there are “signs of optimism” ahead, such as a year-on-year shrimp production growth of 4.8 percent in 2024, surpassing 2022’s peak volumes. Global Atlantic salmon production is also expected to grow by 4.3 percent and 3.9 percent respectively in 2024 and 2025, with Norway taking the lead. The Faroe Islands and Australia are other emerging markets to watch in salmon farming.

The report also covers some potential risks from higher temperatures that could lead to more algal blooms and mortalities. My work in 2023 began with a series of articles on this very subject and the efforts of countries such as the US to lessen the negative effects through modelling, forecasting and using sensors that assemble data on ocean conditions, currents, algal species abundance and toxin levels. The risks of algal blooms were also described by the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC) in Scotland as one of aquaculture’s biggest emerging challenges. Hopefully, however, new technological advances will continue to make the sector even better equipped to deal with the risks.

Fish health and welfare could also be in the spotlight. At the end of 2023, I was asked by Hatchery International magazine – which will be celebrating its 25th year anniversary in 2024 — to write a story about aquaculture certification and fish health and welfare standards. This topic is key not only from a public perception standpoint, but also from a productivity standpoint. A fish that is healthier and less stressed will grow better and faster, and organisations like SAIC are taking note of this with new research projects on parasite management, managing or preventing disease through immunisation and vaccinations, gill health in Atlantic salmon and more. Work such as this will make huge differences to the survivability and wellbeing of fish and help seafood producers provide a nutritious protein source, according to Heather Jones, CEO of SAIC. It will also pave the way for a more robust, environmentally-friendly sector.

Last year saw significant focus on blue carbon ecosystems as a way of mitigating the effects of global warming. This focus is highly likely to continue in 2024. Blue carbon ecosystems like seagrass and mangroves can capture carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and convert it into biomass. Experts are now saying that restoring these ecosystems is key to removing additional carbon dioxide and addressing other issues such as increasing ocean acidity.

And there’s more. A market is also emerging for carbon credits to finance coastal ecosystem restoration projects. In Japan, the number of such projects, or blue carbon projects, is growing, with major companies keen to purchase credits as a way of not only offsetting their own emissions but also contributing to a local community and fostering regional development. Last year, I started working with consultancy firm Hatch Innovation Services on a blue carbon project with Japanese oil and gas corporation Idemitsu. Studies are underway to explore the potential of these projects in Japan, as seagrass and seaweed become increasingly recognised for their immense promise in addressing climate change and promoting environmental sustainability.

But what does this mean for aquaculture? Many blue carbon projects in Japan focus on seagrass and tidal flats, but there could also be some potential in seaweed, which the Japanese farm extensively and have been consuming for decades. With a strong seaweed sector, Japan is in a unique position and there could be more developments. This month, the country announced that it is recognising seaweed as a carbon sequestering ecosystem and incorporating it into its national carbon emission calculations. This is a hugely significant step, and it feels as though Japan’s current blue carbon projects are the start of a major emerging blue carbon credit market. Success depends on many factors, such as effective engagement with local communities to build trust and transparency, active monitoring and data collection, and a strong presence by companies in the project that they wish to support.

As the Hatch/Idemitsu project continues into 2024, I would love to see other Japanese companies engaging in blue carbon in a similar way. There are still some limitations when it comes to knowledge and information, for example the differing capacities of ecosystems to store carbon, and more communication and research are needed to improve our understanding of blue carbon ecosystems and how they remove carbon dioxide. No doubt, however, big contributions will be made in future to improve the resilience of blue carbon ecosystems and enhance the benefits derived from habitat protection to local communities.

I’m looking forward to seeing how this all develops and the opportunities it will present for those in Japan’s seaweed space.

One of my major goals in 2024 is to write my own research paper as a continuation of my MSc thesis on aquaculture recovery in Tohoku, northeast Japan, after the March 11th, 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. Over the years, I have found that topics such as disaster risk management and aquaculture/fisheries recovery following natural disasters are not highlighted as frequently as others, and there appear to be much less examples from Japan compared to other countries. My aim is to highlight the particular characteristics of Tohoku’s aquaculture and marine environment, describe the disaster’s impacts and how the sector is working towards recovery, to assess whether Japan’s experience could serve as an example of disaster management and help other countries better understand what happened to aquaculture in Tohoku. I hope that the paper will contribute to formulating plans to reduce the risks and impacts of disasters and steer recovery processes on to the fastest track.

Also coming up this year is the Global Seafood Alliance’s Responsible Seafood Summit 2024, which will be held in St Andrews, Scotland, in October. This event is a great opportunity to network, discover new products and solutions and find out the latest in aquaculture and fisheries research. It’s a huge platform for industry, NGOs, academia and more to share knowledge and information and be part of a varied conference programme covering production, sustainability, innovation, market trends and more. I’m looking forward to learning plenty when I return to St Andrews for the first time since my graduation in 2018.