Climate-friendly seafood: Marine aquaculture delivers high-protein without high carbon footprint, flag scientists

26 Jan 2022 --- Marine aquaculture or “mariculture’’ colloquially, is gaining esteem as a sustainable food source for a seven billion plus human population. It recently came under the spotlight as a potential contributor, through the research of an international team of scientists from the University of Adelaide and The Nature Conservancy. 

Mariculture constitutes 52% of the aquatic animal products people consume, report the authors of a peer reviewed research paper in BioScience called Climate-Friendly Seafood: The Potential for Emissions Reduction and Carbon Capture in Marine Aquaculture.

Products derived from the practice can deliver high-protein solutions without the high carbon footprint of their terrestrially cultivated foods. Unlike livestock grazing, mariculture does not require intensive land-use such as razing rainforests for cattle ranching. 

"The GHG emissions per unit of protein produced by aquaculture generally compare favorably with most livestock production," says Alice Jones, lead author of the research.

Monitoring GHG emissions
Due to the lower carbon footprint of transport associated with marine aquaculture there are considerable opportunities to improve supply chains. 

The authors advise that co-farming bivalves with seaweed and co-farming fed finfish with seaweed or bivalves lead to a net reduction in carbon emissions and it offers greater food security. Measures such as these at mariculture sites result in the greater absorption of excess nutrients. It reduces eutrophication and the degradation of habitats that already store carbon.

However, there is still much work to be done around infrastructure and best practices in aquaculture. Major supermarket retailers across the UK and Europe were accused for allegedly turning a blind eye to the unsustainable practices of farmed fish supply chains, according to a report compiled by the Changing Markets Foundation, Feedback and NGOs based in France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.Food derived from “mariculture” can deliver high-protein products.

Among the top concerns pegged are “appalling” quality of life conditions of farmed fish, misleading information disseminated to consumers and that the majority of fish ends up as fishmeal.

Switching up the food system
In business moves that mirror this shift in thinking about food systems, Upside Foods, formerly Memphis Meats, acquired Cultured Decadence, a Madison, Wisconsin-based cultivated seafood company.

Cultured Decadence, founded in 2020, developed proprietary cell lines and cell feed for a variety of high-impact seafood products, including lobster and other crustaceans. The acquisition will enable Upside to expand its product portfolio and accelerate commercialization of a range of seafood products grown directly from animal cells, without raising animals. 

Cultured Decadence will adopt Upside’s brand and remain in Wisconsin as a Midwest hub.

"Cultivated seafood also has a tremendous potential to benefit the world," says Dr. Uma Valeti, founder and CEO of Upside Foods.

Meanwhile, BlueNalu, a California-based food company developing seafood products directly from fish cells, has announced a collaboration with multinational sushi restaurant operator, Food & Life Companies (F&LC). As a Japanese foodservice leader, F&LC operates brands including, Sushiro and Kyotaru and over 1,000 restaurants across Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Mainland China. 

Edited by Inga de Jong