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On November 3, 2006 a group of world renowned ecologists announced nationally and in USA Today the results of one of the most comprehensive studies of marine life as follows: “All wild seafood will have disappeared from the world’s menus within 50 years, if current trends in over fishing continue. . .” In the past two decades, the fishing industry has begun to extract fish faster than populations can reproduce. According to industry statistics, pressure from commercial fishing is so intense that 80 to 90 percent of the fish in some populations are removed every year. In addition, recent figures provided by the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization Fisheries Department (FAO) show that, among the major marine fish stocks or groups of stocks for information is available, about 47% to 50% of stocks are fully exploited and are, therefore, producing catches that have either reached or are very close to their maximum limits. Another 15% to 18% are overexploited and evidently have no potential for further increase. On July 1, 2007, China was ordered by the USFDA to stop its US shipments of five (5) farm raised seafood’s including its largest export-shrimp because of the use of antibiotics and harmful chemicals found in these imported seafood products. Obviously the need for USA seafood security and safety will be a defining issue addressed by BioMarine’s production of USDA “organic” seafood products from the Gulf of Mexico.
The demand for seafood as the primary diet for people of all ages is increasing worldwide. The world average per capita fish consumption grew from 9.4 kg in 1961/63 to 15.8 kg in 1995/97, or by almost 70 percent. In a recent preliminary study for FAO, taking into account per capita income growth and trend factors, estimates that per capita fish consumption could reach 22.5 kg by 2030 (an increase of slightly over 40 percent over the 1995/97 level). Based on these growth and trend factors, total world demand is forecast to reach 183 million tons, or mt, in 2030, or 95 million tons greater than the amount consumed in 1995. The FAO estimates that in order to maintain current per capita seafood consumption, world aquaculture production will have to double to approximately 83 million tons by 2030.
Several estimates suggest that harvest from the world’s oceans have approached the limits of wild fish stock productivity. It is also widely acknowledged in the fisheries industry that supplies from traditional marine and inland capture fisheries are unlikely to increase substantially. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Strategic Plan has noted that this deficit cannot be entirely mitigated by the rebuilding of wild stocks.
We believe that the lower the output from the capture fisheries sector is, the greater the opportunity for growth in the aquaculture industry. In contrast to wild fisheries that are limited by many unpredictable factors, such as weather and a finite production capacity, aquaculture is well positioned to succeed as a result of (i) the relatively lower harvest and labor cost per kilogram of product and (ii) the ability to plan the harvest timing and volume to meet market demand. Because of limited access to good quality land and water, we also believe that open ocean or offshore aquaculture presents a key opportunity for producing aquatic food in the future.
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