The increased use of terrestrial feed ingredients in aquafeed has more than tripled the carbon emissions associated with aquaculture, according to Erik-Jan Lock, a research director in the aquaculture division at Norwegian food research institute Nofima.
According to recent research cited by Lock in a presentation at the April membership meeting of IFFO, The Marine Ingredients Organisation, in Madrid, total climate-warming emissions produced by European aquaculture increased 314% from 2000 to 2020. Similarly, land use increased 594%, water consumption by 236%, and eutrophication increased 468% and 630% for freshwater and salt water, respectively. The use of wild fish for feed decreased just 13%, according to the research paper, which was published in February in the Journal of Cleaner Production.
