The Fish Site reports on new analysis published in Frontiers in marine science to analyse the global shellfish industry. As production of crustaceans and molluscs intensifies, many aquaculture advocates have championed shellfish as a sustainable source of animal protein.
The environmental benefits of shellfish aquaculture, like water nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration, have also been highlighted. Despite these potential benefits, the industry isn’t operating at its full capacity.
The researchers explain that shellfish aquaculture could make a substantial contribution to global food security if farms become more efficient and shellfish becomes more affordable for global consumers.
According to a study by Parodi et al in 2018, a future food is a commodity that has a rapid and dynamic production capacity, thanks to advancing technology, and has the potential to develop at scale. An increase in scale lowers production costs and environmental inputs, making the food accessible and environmentally sustainable.
