Undaunted by the pandemonium from missiles, drones and tariffs, a group of audacious salmon quietly return from the Pacific Ocean to spawn up the Sacramento River, in California’s Central Valley. A long and exhausting journey, ending in penitent swim through one of the most intensive agricultural areas worldwide, overcoming dozens of dams, ditches rich in pesticides, hydroelectric plants and other barriers, making their migration to Putah Creek a real miracle. This small stream – more like a puddle – was until recently a stagnant pond in which no spawning had been recorded for decades. But after an ambitious environmental regeneration program, these Chinook salmon (Oncorhyncus kisutch) do not want to give up on celebrating their third birthday with a good spawn. And who doesn’t like a good party at home, in the company of friends and family?
It’s good news for Aquaculture, because these salmon, returning exhausted to Putah Creek, derive from controlled breeding in fish farms, according to recent research work. So after only a few years of rigorous environmental work, provided with the right conditions, California Chinook are ready to complete the feat of upstream spawning, hatching in the redd, emerging and migrating to the estuary, smoltification, surviving for years in the wide ocean and returning to their home stream. Contradicting loud and clear the general conviction that fish stocking have very little success in the wild -what nonsense!
Not that Aquaculture has much to prove either. Our activity plays an increasingly important role in meeting global food needs, surpassing fisheries for the first time in 2022. Water farming generated 94.4 million tons of aquatic animals in that year, representing 51% of the total and 57% of the production intended for human consumption. Fishing yields have remained virtually unchanged over the past 40 years, while Aquaculture has increased by 6.6% since 2020 alone.
Aquatic products remain one of the most traded food assets globally, reaching €195 billion in 2022 -an all-time high, representing a 19% increase over pre-pandemic levels. Growth forecasts for aquatic foods continue to rise, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), thus a boost in sustainable production is vital to guarantee a healthy diet. With the world population projected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, providing enough healthy food will require significant investments in this growing production sector.
Of course Aquaculture, despite recent achievements and just like everybody else, is not without its problems. It shares with the fishing industry the impact of a drop in the preference for seafood, especially among the youngest consumers. Regarding production, the sector faces important challenges derived from climate change, ocean acidification, global warming, floods, competition for water, pollution – including that resulting from Aquaculture, such as sludge from cages or rafts -, loss of biodiversity and other complications. That is why it is so important for Aquaculture to develop its potential, in combination with environmental regeneration projects, for the recovery of degraded ecosystems.
And we happen to know a thing or two about degraded ecosystems in the Galician estuaries. Even though here we hold most cards for the development of the sector, including quality and quantity of fresh and salt water, kilometers of sheltered coastline, modern infrastructure, value adding capacity, great appreciation of the local product, European financial assistance, qualified labor, markets with strong demand… Well managed, these advantages could make wanders in just a few years, reinvesting the valuable know-how accumulated for centuries by the Galician fishing industry.
As our dear Portuguese neighbours say, unhappily we find ourselves in the current dire straits: the aquastar of local production, the Galician mussel, in serious crisis with a drop of up to 30% in production; a brutal decline in seafood sales in recent years; shellfish farming with the lowest production since records are kept, multiple bankruptcies and sell-offs in many fishing companies, large aquaculture facilities in liquidation and public auction, the generational transition of the sector workforce in danger… as it’s commonly known: a total mess.
From a regional perspective, it seems difficult to justify all the institutional public spending, all those many departments, councils and delegations, subsidies and licenses, technological institutes, training centers, cofradías and producers’ organizations, for such very poor returns. Being the principal beneficiaries for many years of the FEMPA funds for example, today the main operator in fish production in Galicia is not Galician, nor Spanish – not even from an EU member state. Making the case for a genuine question: Was this the expected outcome of the gazillions invested for the development of European Aquaculture? Without a clear strategy, all this public expenditure is not going to solve our serious structural problems, no matter how many self-complacent press articles are paid for in the local media.
It is time for us to commit to the regeneration of our estuaries and rivers, applying new solutions and technologies to restore their productive potential. Let’s be ambitious but rigorous. Let’s take advantage of the capabilities that aquaculture offers for the recovery of our natural resources. And for the generation of much needed wealth and rural jobs. Putah Creek’s Chinook are making the point. Yes, we can: Let’s make Aquaculture great again!