Annotated Table of Contents and Study Questions
The Blue Revolution Hunting, Harvesting, and Farming Seafood in the Information Ages By Nicholas P. Sullivan Preface: The Blue Revolution, Version 2.0 This book is about the transformation of commercial fishing— from maximizing volume to maximizing value, from wild hunting to controlled harvesting and farming. It’s about sensible stakeholders staring at a “tragedy of the commons” that has depleted a global, natural resource—and collaborating to preserve the resource and its ocean habitat. Commercial fishing, long a traditional throwback industry, is moving in fits and starts into the postindustrial age— propelled by big data, sensors, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
PART I. Wild-Capture Fisheries Between 1990 and 2018, global fish consumption rose by 122 percent. Given the stress on wildfish stocks in the ocean, farmed fish already account for more than half the fish eaten globally. But wild fish are still a big part of the lean-protein solution, especially as wild hunting morphs into sustainable harvesting. That’s happening in the United States and a significant swath of the rest of the world. Globally, in 2017, roughly 79 percent of marine fish landings were from biologically sustainable stocks.
Chapter 1. Sacred Cod, Sustainable Scallops By the mid-1990s, both sea scallops and Atlantic cod stocks were seriously depleted, and catches of both were heavily restricted. Many scallop grounds rebounded to health quickly, which led to a policy of rotating beds. Since then, scallops have thrived for 20 years and are now one of the top fisheries in the US. But fights over how to limit cod catch raged until 2014, when government scientists saw cod reduced to 1 percent of its 1980s biomass and essentially shut down the fishery to rebuild.
QUESTIONS •
What can policymakers learn from the way sea scallops and Atlantic cod were managed?
• • •
• •
Would cod be more plentiful if the fishery had been shut down earlier or were factors other than overfishing equally to blame? How did the approach of the scallopers and cod fishermen differ? How did NOAA’s response to depletion of cod and scallop stocks differ? Why do scientists and fishermen arrive at such different conclusions about fish populations? How was the UMASS scallop-survey technique different than the NOAA technique? What is the “Allee effect” and how might it alter one’s perception of the cod-stock data? What does “recruitment” mean for fish stocks? Why might recruitment for different species vary radically?
Chapter 2. Changing Rules for a Changing Ecosystem The Magnuson-Stevens Act has regulated wild fisheries since 1976. As overfishing increased in the late 20th century, changes to Magnuson limited the days at sea, type of gear permitted, number of crew on boats, and regions open to fishing. In 2010, individual transferable catch quotas (ITQs) were introduced for most species. That has been better for fish (there are more groundfish today than 30 years ago) than for fishermen, many of whom were forced out of business. Today, climate change is emerging as a bigger challenge than overfishing.
QUESTIONS • • • • •
• • •
What is a “shifting baseline” and how does it apply to fisheries? Can you give specific examples from your own life experience? What is Maximum Sustainable Yield? How is it determined? How might MSY lead to increased bycatch of some protected species? What is “bycatch” and what is a “choke species”? How do they often restrict the catch of plentiful fish stocks? How do regional Fisheries Management Councils work and is it effective? Why has the industry fishery consolidated in the last 20 years? How could the policy on permits and quotas be altered to encourage and allow younger people to enter the business? Can depleted stocks rebound and how? How have changing ocean currents affected waters in the Gulf of Maine? How have those waters affected marine organisms? How has the Magnuson Stevens Act been amended since it was introduced in 1976?
Chapter 3. As the Cowboys of the Sea Fade Away, a Postindustrial Fishery Emerges In many parts of the world, industrial fishing peaked in the early 1990s and has since been phasing into a more postindustrial mode. Fishermen still use highly effective new technologies, but they apply a different mindset, with an emphasis on sustainability, on extracting more value from less production, and on minimizing biomass depletion and other negative externalities, like habitat degradation and bycatch of protected species. In addition, new boats have super-chilling and flash-freezing capabilities to better preserve fish quality after catch.
QUESTIONS • • • • •
Is it possible to fish at an industrial scale in a postindustrial mode? In what ways is Blue Harvest Fisheries an example of a postindustrial fleet? Why can foreign nations often supply high-quality fish to the US at lower prices than domestic fish? Why is a multispecies port much more stable than a single species port? What are some of the various models for fishing companies described in this chapter? Which are more capital intensive? Are the various monitoring systems to monitor catch quotas effective? Would it be more effective to monitor catch being unloaded at the dock than catch landed at sea?
Chapter 4. Eating with the Ecosystem Abundant and sustainable species of fish are often crowded out of retail and restaurants by the fish that people demand—farmed shrimp and salmon from the other side of the world, or old favorites like tuna and cod that are in short supply. But the “fishies” are now following the “foodies” playbook and beginning to influence the way fish is sold. An emerging Local Catch and Community Supported Fisheries movement is key. And more fishermen are experimenting with direct-to-consumer models, with flash freezing an impetus.
QUESTIONS • • • • • •
•
Why are local-catch CSF’s a boon to both fishermen and the sustainable-fish movement? What does “eating with the ecosystem” or “eating like a fish” mean in practice? How have some Community Supported Fisheries stretched the definition of “local”? What does Barton Seaver mean when he says, “seafood is the only protein that is guilty until proven innocent”? Is it fair? How does the Sea to Table scandal fit this statement? What role do consumers play in changing the way fish are caught, processed, and handled? Is it possible that the “alternative seafood networks” that emerged during the pandemic will have a long-term impact on fish-distribution models? What are some of the pros and cons of this model for fishermen? Why do fishermen have a potential advantage over vegetable farms in providing a direct-to-consumer product?
Chapter 5. The Silicon Valley of Cod (and Other Innovation Clusters) In 2011, Thor Sigfusson founded the Iceland Ocean Cluster, a business incubator on the docks, to coax fishermen to network with entrepreneurs and investors who could help monetize new products. Over the last decade, the IOC has become a global leader promoting 100 percent utilization of fish to maximize the resource and increased the value of a pound of fish by more than 30 percent. The Cluster concept has expanded to the US to revive aging fishing ports and plug them into the Blue Economy.
QUESTIONS • • • • • •
What is the main idea behind the Ocean cluster concept? How does it apply to other industries? What are some of the biggest innovations that have emerged from Clusters? How are the US Clusters different form the Iceland Cluster? How are the US Clusters different from each other? Why did the New Bedford Ocean Cluster switch from being a public non-profit to a private non-profit? How does Kevin Stokesbury’s cod-survey technique differ from his scallop-survey technique (Chapter 1)? Why would killing or handling fish in a different way (Ikejime) bring such a higher exvessel price?
Chapter 6. Run, Herring, Run: Restoring the Marine Food Web Major dam removals have resulted in a rebound of riverine wildlife. But the initial impressive uptick in herring runs appears to have peaked and stabilized well short of historical numbers; and, starting around 2000, the size of the river herring stock crashed in multiple locations, even in rivers without dams, which generated many theories but few facts. Marine biologists are now trying to prove a hypothesis that a decline in river herring led in part to the decline in Atlantic cod.
QUESTIONS • •
•
• •
Why are herring so important to the marine food webs? Starting in the 1960s, the vestiges of industrialization and its negative impact on rivers has slowly been unwound. Can you describe the various pieces of this unwinding? How much more remains to be done to restore rivers and near-shore estuaries to a more pristine condition? How do the runs of herring compare to those of 100-200 years ago? Why did the increase in runs of herring suddenly stop or decrease around 2000 even in rivers without dams or dam removals? What was fisherman Ted Ames’s hypothesis about the disappearance of cod and how are marine biologists trying to prove his theory? Even if many dams are removed on a river, does that necessarily open up old spawning grounds for salmon and herring?
PART II. Farmed Finfish, Shellfish, and Sea Greens Aquaculture is the fastest-growing form of food production in the world, mostly in fresh water. This book focuses on mariculture—the cultivation of marine species. Mariculture in the United States is still in its infancy but evolving fast. New England is a hotbed for mariculture—with land-based barramundi, branzino, and rainbow-trout farms, and a profusion of oyster, mussel, and kelp farms. Offshore farming is the Holy Grail for many entrepreneurs; few have yet been permitted but several are in the application process.
Chapter 7. The Blue Revolution and Atlantic Salmon Salmon farming is rapidly changing, moving from nearshore net pens to offshore ocean pens and land-based water tanks. All new salmon farms built in the United States today or in planning stages are land-based, in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). A RAS uses huge tanks filled with hundreds of thousands of gallons of water, with typically 95–99 percent of the water purified and recirculated. Fish farmers are experimenting with alternative “non-fish” feeds based on soy, insects, microalgae, or biotech single-cell proteins.
QUESTIONS • • • • • • •
How would you describe and compare the Green Revolution and the Blue Revolution? Why are fish more efficient convertors of food into protein than land animals? In the marine context, what is “declining energy” and how has that affected wild Atlantic salmon? What are the advantages and disadvantages of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS)? Is it a proven or an experimental technology? How and why did salmon farming start? What were the major complaints about early salmon farming and have they been addressed 25 years later? Why have salmon farming companies had such trouble getting permits for RAS farming in Maine? What are the latest developments in feed for farmed fish and why are they good for the aquatic food web?
Chapter 8. Fish for a Small Planet Other RAS farms are raising species that reach market faster than salmon—such as barramundi, branzino (European bass), steelhead trout, and rainbow trout. The first RAS farm in the United States, started by entrepreneur Josh Goldman in the late 1980s, is still in full operation in western Massachusetts. As with all fish farms, the major cost is feed, followed by electricity. Another issue that affects all RAS farms to is the buildup of “off flavors” that must be “purged” before slaughter.
QUESTIONS • • • • • • • •
What was the inspiration for RAS farming in the US? Why did John Goldman switch from land-based to ocean-based farming? Why is barramundi the “perfect fish to farm”? What’s a key difference between farming Atlantic salmon—and barramundi, branzino, or steelhead? What is aquaponics and how does it potentially improve the economics of fish farming? What is the advantage of keeping fish in an isotonic state in a tank, where the salinity of the blood and the water is the same? Just as there are many different models for wild-capture fisheries, there are many models for RAS farms. Can you describe three? If no one has even seen eel spawn and no one has ever bred an eel, how can they be farmed?
Chapter 9. The Beauty of Filter-Feeding Bivalves Putting aside the economics, you can debate about the perfect finfish to farm or the healthiest fish to eat, but there is not much argument about the best seafood to farm and eat. Hands down, it is shellfish, particularly oysters and mussels. Both require few inputs (just the phytoplankton they extract from the ocean) and produce few outputs (just feces that are consumed by oceanbottom dwellers). Both are an abundant source of vitamins and minerals and both filter and purify ocean water.
QUESTIONS • • • • • • •
Oysters and mussels are similar in many ways—except for the capital required to farm and the economics. Can you describe the key differences? What caused the collapse of the dynamic US oyster industry in the early 20th century? What’s the difference between the French belon oyster and the eastern Virginia oyster? What is the so-called “hydraulic zone of influence” in mussel farming? Why is mussel farming so much more capital intensive than oyster farming? What are the prime conditions to promote “happy” mussels and mussel growth? How does climate change impact shellfish? How does acidification differ on the West and East coasts?
Chapter 10. Kelp—for Food, Fuel, Pharma Kelp is nutrient dense, rich in vitamins and minerals, with a high level of vegetable proteins, and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Kelp has more fiber than brown rice, more calcium than whole milk, and more iron than spinach. Now that kelp has been proven easy to grow, the trick is developing markets for it. Food is a driving force for kelp farmers, but there are promising companies producing bioplastics and methane-free animal feed. Higher-value markets for pharmaceuticals and biofuels are on the horizon.
QUESTIONS • • • • • • • • •
If shellfish remove excess nitrogen from the ocean as they feed, what does kelp remove? What’s the advantage of growing kelp and mussels in close proximity? To provide enough protein from kelp to feed the world, how much ocean space would be needed? The ocean as a carbon sink cannot buffer much more CO2. How feasible is it that kelp could buffer the excess? What major positive change to its business model did Atlantic Sea Farms make? What is “integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) or 3D farming and what its advantages are? Why are fed (finfish) and extractive (shellfish) species symbiotic? How would you describe the difference between “sustainable” fishing and “restorative” fishing (or fish production)? What are the chances that kelp will become a major biofuel over the next few decades?
Chapter 11. The Holy Grail: Farming the Open Ocean The United States has 24 percent more territory underwater than above water. This vast ocean resource clearly presents a huge opportunity for finfish mariculture. “Ocean farming” generally means waters at a remove from nearshore estuaries and bays, the locale for most shellfish mariculture to date. In the United States, “offshore” is understood to be in federal waters, between 3 and 200 miles from shore. Remote management through sensors, electronic equipment, and machine-learning feed algorithms makes ocean farming increasingly viable.
QUESTIONS • • • • • • • • •
Where does the US rank globally in terms of aquaculture production? What federal agency is in charge of farming in Federal waters? How many different US and state agencies are involved with offshore farming permits? What is the Seafood Print metric? How does it compare to the carbon-footprint metric? Why have so few entrepreneurs been awarded permits to farm in Federal waters? Is farming offshore better than farming on land in RAS tanks? In New England, what is one of the biggest reasons to disallow offshore farming? Why haven’t cobia and kampachi, two farmed fish, been harvested in the wild? Compared to near-shore net-pen farming, what are some of the advantages and disadvantages of offshore farms? What is the latest “fish of choice” for offshore farmers in the Northeast, and why? How does the US compare to other countries in aquaculture? In mariculture? In offshore farming?
Part III. Global Challenges: Criminals, Climate, Conservation Illegal Unregulated Unreported (IUU) fishing accounts for more than 20 percent of all fish caught and is a $23 billion business. Due to its indiscriminate nature and focus on high-value targets, like sharks, tunas, squid, octopus, and sea urchins, illegal fishing is a huge threat to the sustainability of global fishing. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a potential solution to IUU and may perhaps even mitigate some of the impacts of climate change. To date, marine extinctions are extremely low and fish do rebound if left alone.
Chapter 12. Big Data versus Pirates on the High Seas IUU fishing takes place in national territories, on the “high seas” outside national territories, and sometimes in MPAs. Vessels often transfer fish to refrigerated ships that bring the fish to port, obscuring the origin of the catch and allowing the pirates to remain at sea for months. Big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are now mapping fishing activity in real time on the oceans and have been instrumental in apprehending IUU vessels and prosecuting whitecollar owners.
QUESTIONS • •
What role do subsidies play in illegal fishing? Given the vastness of the global oceans, how is it possible to monitor and enforce illegal fishing activity?
• • • • • •
What is one of the best success stories in stopping illegal fishing to protect an endangered species from extinction? How does Global Fishing Watch collect its data on ocean-going vessels? What government is leading the charge against illegal fishing? What impact is that having on its own fishing fleet? Name the ways the West Coast of Africa has been impacted by illegal fishing. Describe one of the major success stories in saving a species from extinction at the hands of pirates. In addition to arrests at sea, what other methods of interdiction show promise? What incentives have the potential to reward good fishing behavior?
Chapter 13. Conservation and Climate, Adaptation and Resilience The impacts of climate change—warming water and acidification—are changing the biogeochemistry of the ocean. Warmer ocean water holds less oxygen even as it increases animals’ need for oxygen. The ocean is a great carbon sink, but there is a limit to how much carbon dioxide the ocean can “buffer” and the resultant ocean acidification means organisms work harder to build shells. Meanwhile, coastal acidification is more a function of nitrogen from agricultural waste and other chemical effluents from land.
QUESTIONS • • • • •
How does the level of marine extinctions compare to terrestrial extinctions? What is the impact of warmer ocean water on fish? How well will marine organisms adapt to climate change? What is the basic theory that propels the movement toward more Marine Protected Areas? What is the financing mechanism behind The Nature Conservancy’s Blue Bonds project?