Comment
BY DR MARTIN JAFFA
Think outside the box An aquaculture strategy for England needs imagination, not unrealistic ambitions
E
arlier this year, Seafood 2040, a collabora�ve project from across the seafood industry, sought tenders for a new English Aquaculture Strategy. The idea was to create a pathway for growth of the aquaculture sector in England over the next two decades. At the �me of the original proposal, I wrote in Fish Farmer that I thought that this strategy was a rather pointless exercise. I argued that if aquaculture were to prosper in England, it would have happened regardless of any coordinated strategy. I was not convinced that commissioning a new strategy in 2020 would lead to any further industry growth. The final report has now been published via the Seafish website (www.seafish.org). I was very much looking forward to reading about a new dynamic aquaculture industry for England, but I am afraid any enthusiasm quickly evaporated. I was hoping for new radical, outof-the-box thinking but instead, it offered li�le that has not been said before. I suspect that this strategy, like others before it, will simply
end up on a shelf gathering dust. For me, there are two fundamental ques�ons which have not been addressed. The first is, if we do grow more fish then who is going to eat it? Secondly, if there were increased demand, which is probably unlikely, then who is going to grow the forecasted aquaculture products? The new strategy aims to help meet the extra requirement of fish if and when the public increase their consump�on from 129.3g now to 280g of fish per week in 2040. This equates to an increase from 0.9 to 2 por�ons of fish per person per week. Achieving this increase is one of the key aims of the wider Seafood 2040 project but I am not persuaded that such a target will ever be met. Home fish consump�on has been in decline for several years and although it has picked up slightly during the Covid-19 pandemic, it will require a major change in public a�tude to achieve the Seafood 2040 goals and I cannot see that happening. Seafish launched their “Love Seafood” campaign in October but it has failed to a�ract much public interest. This is not surprising given the limited budget, but It will take more than loving seafood to change public behaviour. I suspect that in the coming years, far from seeing home seafood consump�on increase, it is likely to con�nue its downward trajectory. Below is a screenshot of the last three videos posted by Love Seafood on the You Tube channel, highligh�ng how much interest has been s�mulated by the campaign. Left: Love Seafood’s videos on YouTube Above: Carp could be a profitable niche market
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www.fishfarmermagazine.com
11/01/2021 14:47:43
