Food under fire
The conflict in the Middle East has thrown up an increasing global concern, which aquaculture could play a big part in helping to solve.
Food security has become such a major issue for many governments that they are now taking steps to increase their agricultural and seafood production.
Japan is one example. China, with a population of 1.5 billion, is building fish farms at sea and on land at a rapid rate. India, too, is starting to wake up to the importance of aquaculture.
Fish farms, which are less subject to hostile action at sea than a fishing fleet would be, now account for more than half the world’s seafood output.
There was speculation recently, contested admittedly, that Norway, with a population of just six million could feed its entire population with what the country’s salmon farms can produce in the event of hostilities with Russia.
Food security in wartime is not a new issue. Britain came close to defeat during the early part of World War Two, not from the Luftwaffe, but from U-boat action. Ships carrying vital food supplies were being sunk at such a rate between 1940 and 1943 that starvation became a very real fear within the government.
It led to a huge campaign (“Dig for Victory”) to turn every piece of available green land into a vegetable garden – and it worked.
The fishing fleet remained largely intact, with the result that fish was one of the very few foods that was not rationed during the war.
Britain today is awash with food, but most of it is imported and over huge distances. Grapes from Chile, wheat from Canada, prawns from Central America, lamb from New Zealand and fruit from southern Europe.
All this and more would be subject to disruption in the event of a major conventional war.
And it is not just about war. The global population is growing at the rate of 70 million a year – an entire UK population equivalent every 12 months – all mouths needing to be fed.
The UK fishing fleet today may be a mere shadow of what it was 50 years ago, but to some extent home seafood production has been replaced by fish farming, mainly based in Scotland.
The UK produces over 200,000 tons of farmed salmon a year plus 14,500 tons of rainbow trout and 12,200 tons of mussels.
While this is not enough to feed the entire UK population, it can go a long way to bolstering national food production.
The same is true at a global level. Aquaculture can make a huge contribution to global food security, offering a stable, highly efficient source of protein, as well as reducing pressure on wild fish stocks.
It is a highly efficient method of protein production, offering high quality food that requires fewer resources than agriculture, for example.
Resilience in a crisis or war depends not only on military preparedness. It is also about the ability of civil society to support the military, maintain critical societal functions, and get water, medicine and food on the table for everyone.
Feeding people means feeding fish
Food security has become a major topic of debate in Norway recently, partly because the country is on a potential frontline with Russia. The Royal Marines now have a permanent base in Norway to help bolster the country’s small, but highly effective, army.
In theory, at least, Norway could feed its entire population on the farmed and wild caught fish it produces.
But this claim is not a given. Nils Gunnar Kvamstø, and Cecilie Hansen, Chief Executive and a scientist at the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research respectively, said in a report published by the newspaper Bergens Tidende that the entire country could not just eat fish in time of war or a national emergency.
They pointed out in their column that Norwegian supply chains are fragile and characterised by certain paradoxes.
“We are a large fishing nation, but we export the lion’s share of our catch and import more than half of the food we consume,” they wrote, adding: “We are a large oil producer, but we only have one oil refinery and are dependent on fuel imports.”
In other words, a targeted attack could instantly shut down all oil production in the country, which would have a direct impact on the seafood industry. In the event of a fuel shortage, the needs of the military would take priority over fishing vessels and fish farms.
While Norway is also a world leader in aquaculture, some people suggested that fish raised on land could alleviate any food shortage problem.
But they pointed out that most of the raw materials for fish feed are imported. The main nutrients come from China, for example.
Disruptions to supply chains could therefore have a very negative impact on fish meal production.
Nevertheless, Kvamstø and Hansen said there is co-operation between marine researchers and defence experts to shed more light on the possible effects of cold and hot wars on the ecosystem of the Barents Sea, for example, where there are important fish stocks.
The Barents Sea may be quite a cold part of the world but it would become a very hot place in the event of war with Russia.
“A new Cold War or armed conflict in Norway or the surrounding areas are no longer unrealistic scenarios,” the researchers say.
To improve society’s resilience, they believe a comprehensive food security policy is needed.
Only a few countries such as Iceland, a member of NATO but with a population of less than 400,000, could look to seafood to sustain its people during a war.
While not a complete replacement for total calorie needs, well-managed fisheries and aquaculture can act as a “safety net” to prevent starvation and support nutrition during crises.
Both Japan and South Korea are moving to improve their food security policies. Japan, for example, has introduced a “Food Security Reinforcement Policy Framework” to increase domestic production of staples like wheat and soybeans, enhance farming and seafood farming technology.
Facing a decline in wild catches, it is actively strengthening its food security by focusing on seafood through the modernisation of its aquaculture industry. Like China, it is also looking to floating ocean fish farms.
Even if there is no huge global conflict, the world is going to need a lot more food. While aquaculture cannot answer the entire global need, it can play a major role in easing what is sure to become an increasing concern – war or no war.
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