Hurricanes point to importance of aquaculture

Senior Biologist and Certified Fisheries Professional
Fisheries Technology Associates, Inc.

The hurricanes that struck the U.S. during 2004 and 2005 were cruel reminders of our vulnerabilities as people and as a society. In this day of shock radio and shock TV, I was truly—shocked—by the news images I viewed of Katrina’s aftermath. No doubt, the reality on the ground was much worse.

I certainly take for granted that a light will come on when I flip a switch at my home, or that clean water will flow from the faucet when it’s open.

In the case of those who live (or used to live) in places like Waveland or Biloxi, south Florida, and New Orleans and many other towns in Louisiana, having switches to flip or faucets to open must seem like ancient memories in light of the total devastation confronting them.

In all too many cases, livelihoods as well as homes and businesses were destroyed. As I noticed watching the news coverage, shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico were especially hard hit. Not only were their boats destroyed, but in many areas the animals on which they depend—the wild shrimp—may have been contaminated by toxic runoff or other hurricane-generated pollution.

Man-made or otherwise, there is no disagreement among the experts that we are in a period of climate change and global warming that will fuel the number and intensity of storms, both in the summer and winter months. In particular, hurricanes and typhoons, because of their enormous reach and extraordinarily violent nature will likely pose a significant threat to coastal areas of the world for a period that, by most estimates, could extend into the next decade and well beyond.

Glaciers and tundra are melting. Ocean temperatures are increasing. Mild winters threaten pine and spruce forests with beetle infestation. The incidence of droughts and floods is on the rise. In other words, global ecosystems are changing.

As a biologist, I understand the implications for the plants and animals that inhabit these systems. They must adapt, or become victims of change. The degree to which species are forced to adapt is often times the key to their survival or extinction. The world is changing rather dramatically these days, and its inhabitants must endure the consequences.

For the hunters and gatherers among us, this is a time to be nervous. Indeed, for the hunting-and-gathering Gulf of Mexico shrimpers, the word "nervous" doesn’t quite capture the moment. Counting on normal weather, or at least weather that is not catastrophic, is going to be an increasingly perilous game, and that means the supplies of wild foods (fish and shellfish in particular) will, at best, be highly variable.

Aquaculture has its critics, and in those circles aquaculture garners little respect. Some of the criticisms are justified, and as always we as an industry are working hard to correct our flaws.

For now and into the foreseeable future, aquaculture (warts and all) will be the name of the game when it comes to reliable supply of fisheries products. Even in the face of climate change that is unprecedented in our lifetimes, humankind can count on aquaculture to bridge the gap between increasing demand, and supplies from the wild.

Saying this with confidence may, to some, sound arrogant. How can I be so sure? What’s our secret? It’s no secret. Aquaculture has always been, to one degree or another, about controlling our stocks and controlling the production environment. In a world that is increasingly "unreliable," this is the only strategy that truly makes sense. If aquaculture harbored basic flaws, it would have died a quick death decades ago.

Despite our detractors, aquaculture continues to flourish, and is in fact one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture worldwide. I mentioned above that I take electrical power and running water for granted. When I go to the grocery store, I also expect to see a wide variety of reasonably priced fish and shellfish. I’m not alone in that expectation.

The push is on to extend U.S. aquaculture beyond land and coastal environments to open oceans—exactly the place where hurricanes are formed and thrive. So, siting aquaculture facilities in their midst may at first seem foolhardy. But because the vast majority of these systems will be submerged, the effects from hurricanes will in fact be minimal.

I conclude that as aquaculturists we all have quite a responsibility on our shoulders, but it’s a burden we are prepared and able to accept. Technology will continue to advance, and reduce the risk of loss of supply. As the climatic uncertainties of our world increase, aquaculture should be viewed as an important mechanism to cope with climatic change, and indeed viewed as a mechanism to enable people to prosper.