![]() Reducing the ecological impact of catching fish to feed fish means reducing the reliance on wild fish and invertebrates for fishmeal. Many fishmeal fisheries are subject to overfishing and are declining. Around one-third of the global fish catch is turned into feed for other animals, roughly half of which goes to aquaculture. Feeding most farmed aquatic animals puts additional pressure on wild fish and invertebrates for fishmeal. Unlike terrestrial farmed animals, the majority of which evolved as herbivores, most farmed aquatic animal species, including salmon, trout, and shrimp, are carnivorous, and depend on fish protein and oil during certain developmental stages. But the biggest ecological concern is less familiar. They include pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus released from feces and food decomposition contamination from fertilizers, algaecides, herbicides, and disinfectants excessive use of antibiotics interbreeding and disease transmission between escaped fish and wild varieties and loss of natural habitat (such as mangrove swamps) used for farms. The environmental impacts of aquaculture are well known. JUDY FOX, Octopus 2, 2011, Aqua-resin and casein, 12 X 18 X 16 inches FEEDING FISH WITH FISH Even simple parameters such as tank-wall color can have dramatic effects on fish preferences and aggression. ![]() ![]() Fish raised in intensive production systems may have lower immune function than do fish that have more control over their lives. Fish kept in captivity develop traits not seen in the wild and tend to be more aggressive, experience more chronic stress and injury, and contract more diseases. Farmed aquatic animals now constitute half of the seafood market in many industrialized countries.Īs with terrestrial animals, the intensive farming of aquatic animals is associated with animal welfare and environmental concerns, but little is known about how to ensure the welfare of farmed aquatic animals. Aquatic animals are under rapid domestication, and approximately 550 different aquatic animal species, from oysters and shrimp to rainbow trout and even bluefin tuna, are raised in captivity in nearly 190 countries. Intensive aquaculture became part of the global food system in the latter half of the twentieth century and is now one of the fastest growing food industries. Until fairly recently, aquatic animals were mostly exempt from this factory-farming fate and were almost exclusively harvested from their natural habitats. Factory farming also led to concerns about animal welfare and environmental impacts, including habitat loss, excessive use of fresh water, and pollution. In the twentieth century, in tune with economics and the norms of the Industrial Revolution, a factory model was applied to farming these animals, which facilitated an extraordinary increase in the number of animals produced for food. ![]() Goats, cows, pigs, and chickens followed. Sheep were probably the first animals domesticated by humans for food, starting at least 9,000 years ago. We believe that octopuses are particularly ill-suited to a life in captivity and mass-production, for reasons both ethical and ecological. As global demand for octopus grows, especially in affluent markets, so have efforts to farm them. Given their exceptional abilities, one might ask whether humans should be eating octopus at all, but here we want to raise a different ethical question. As these patterns of behavior suggest, octopuses (as well as some other cephalopods) have sophisticated nervous systems and large brains. They are capable of problem-solving, mimicking their surroundings using color changes that take place on a scale of seconds, outwitting predatory sharks, discriminating individual humans, engaging in playful behavior, and hunting in response to cooperative signals sent by fish. Octopuses stand out among invertebrates for their complex behavior.
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