Tag IMTA

Don’t call it integrated multi-trophic aquaculture: Former commercial fisherman Bren Smith says polyculture of non-fed species is the future of aquaculture. 

Global, sustainable mariculture production, developed on a massive, sustainable scale and using just a small fraction of the world’s oceanic areas, could eventually match the output of land-based agriculture production. Scale and international law considerations require the involvement of many stakeholders, including national governments and international organizations. 

Seaweed aquaculture represents approximately half of the world mariculture production, but since seaweed farming is mostly concentrated in Asian countries, there is a lack of appreciation for this resource in the Western world. 

In integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, farmers combine the cultivation of fed species such as finfish or shrimp with extractive seaweeds, aquatic plants and shellfish and other invertebrates that recapture organic and inorganic particulate nutrients for their growth. 

Seaweed remains a relatively untapped resource with potential as edible food, feed ingredients, cosmetics, agrichemicals, biomaterials and bioenergy molecules. 

Regulatory frameworks and financial incentives may be required to fully realize the benefits of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture systems. 

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture involves cultivating fed species with extractive species that utilize inorganic and organic wastes for their growth. 

In the authors’ recent study, sea cucumbers were added directly to abalone cages with no modifications of the culture equipment to form a simple, low-cost IMTA production system. 

A project in Canada is assessing the industrial potential for integrated multitrophic aquaculture in raising kelps and blue mussels along with salmon.