Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback => Radio Show & Podcast Feedback => Topic started by: thedoc on 17/05/2011 16:27:58
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We cast our nets wide this week to catch the science of aquaculture or fish farming! We'll find out how farming marine life can reduce reliance on disappearing wild stocks, and explore the effect on the local environment. Also, how recycled fish poo and waste water can help repair damaged wetlands, and in Naked Engineering we find out how robotic fish can keep tabs on pollution in ports.
Listen to this Show (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/show/2011.05.15/)
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If you want to discuss this show, or ask a question, this is the place to do it.
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It seems that aquaculture is the only real solution to overfishing. Cod is in short supply, but that does not stop UK consumers from being able to buy it in fish and chips shops and supermarkets. So many European countries, Spain for example, have an insatiable appetite for fish, and that is not going to slow down. If farmers can find a way of safely culturing the fish and avoiding the transfer of sea-lice and depleting fish supplies to feed other fish, then it looks like a good alternative to wild fishing.
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Aquaculture may seem like a cruel method of culturing aquatic animals but in reality, most of the food we eat do come from terrestrially farmed animals (such as chicken, pigs, and cows). Without even considering the pros and cons of aquaculture, the benefits alone are worthy enough to continue with the industry. Not only does it create more job opportunities but also increases seafood supply for directed consumers. Some people may argue that aquaculture can lead to the extinction of some types or breeds of aquatic creatures but they don't realize that those in the business of aquaculture are the ones responsible for keeping those breeds alive to this very day. I can definitely say so myself coming from a family whose business centers around aquatic life.
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After listening to the interview it is clear that aquaculture has both it's benefits and it's drawbacks. Though the benefits seem to out way the drawbacks, there will always be people who pay more attention to the cons rather than the pros. This can create great conflict between people, but hopefully once the problems that rise due to aquaculture are successfully solved, culturing fish will be approved of by most of the people who currently seem to disapprove of it, which will reduce conflict. People will also start to realise that culturing fish has it's advantages for both people and fish.
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Since aquaculture provides people with more fish to eat I don’t think that it is beneficial. Firstly people don’t care about environment thus cause pollution. Nowadays no matter what we eat contains chemicals and animal based products are at the top of the list. Even if companies suggest that their farms are used to clean the chemicals out of fish, chance of getting a disease remains the same. As Kenny claims the risk of causing an epidemic relies on the number of fish cultured. If we encourage culturing fish we will also encourage creating diseases and becoming infected. There are many vegetables that contain nutrition we need. Instead of culturing animals we should focus on eating healthy food. Secondly altering the genetics of fish is not ethical. We o whatever we want to without caring the causes. Nature responds in many different ways just because we are changing the things we don’t like. We can not put a gene into a fish which will cause death. Animals belong to their original places we shouldn’t be putting them into cages and control them. Even worse we can not punish them with a death sentence just because they try to go back to nature.
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It seems that the benefits of aquaculture and fish-farms outweigh the negative impacts of it. Aquaculture eases the process of capturing fish, which would usually mean that the prices of fish should drop. Fish stock is expensive in the market because of the effort needed to hunt them. With rising fuel prices and an environmental concern over climate change caused by motors' exhaust waste, initiating a fish farm would make it easier for fishermen to have a sense of security over their day's catch. Even though lice can infiltrate a fish farm easily, keeping the fish close would aid the fishermen in inspecting the quality of the fish growing so that consumers can rest knowing that the fish they are eating is healthy and disease-free.
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Aquaculture supplies more fish for people to eat and reduce the consumption of wild fish which grow in a no artificial environment. This method protects the rare species fish and slows down the extinction of those species. And they also need the high technology to keep the tasty of the fish and prove that it would not lead to some disease by eating this kind of fish, which create more job opportunities and improve the research in health. However, farmed fish still consume the nutrients and water as same as the nature ones, they may also occupy some certain things which nature fish shorted. At the end, the wild fish will also die out because of the farmed fish.
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Aquaculture may seem cruel to most people, when in fact is it a mild way of getting fish. It reduces the trade of seafood, which in turn reduces overfishing which may cause the endangerment of certain fish. It is a smart way to keep most fish around nowadays. This also reduces the pressure of fishing for a certain type of fish since they can be cultured in a fish farm, such as salmon. Salmon is seen as a luxury food, and is therefore high in demand. The culturing of the salmon would make it available at all times. Aquaculture has also given way to the idea of biofuel, which is generated from the culturing of microalgae, which has been something that people want to invest in due to the rise in fuel prices. Aquaculture seems to be beneficial for everyone.
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With the growing demands by human beings,it seems like that the only solution to over-fishing is the aquaculture.But in my opinion,it still remains some problems to solve.Let's assume that there is a large quantity of fish of one species being fed in a small area.The concentration of the waste they produce will increase gradually which could lead some diseases to fish,and the diseases will spread quickly among the fish because of the lack of space. What is more serious is that there is no need for them to worry about food and their natural enemy which may even cause the degradation of this species that they can't survive in the wild any more.