Approximately half the fresh and frozen seafood consumed in the U.S. is farmed.

It is believed that by 2030, aquaculture will supply most of the fish people eat.

Fish consumption per person globally has almost doubled in the last 50 years and wild fish prices are higher as supply diminishes and demand increases.

In 2000, the global catch of wild fish was 95 million tonnes, with a first-sale value of $81 billion, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It is believed that the global catch has been in decline since the mid 1980’s and that 75 per cent of global fish stocks are depleted in some way.

The reason that people have been able to continue to eat more fish in spite of the over-exploitation of wild fisheries is because aquaculture is booming.

While fish farming has existed for at least 3,000 years, large-scale commercial aquaculture is less than 50 years old.

Since 1990, the aquaculture industry has been growing at an average compound rate of around 10 per cent per year. It is probably the world’s fastest growing form of food production.

TCI alone produces an average of 550 million pounds per year and, in 2000, the aquaculture business is reported to have produced 36 million tonnes of fish and shellfish.

Modern aquaculture involves technically specialized conditions and a great deal of knowledge about habits and life cycle of each fish species. Aquaculture has brought two crucial changes to the seafood industry: consistency of supply and lower prices.

Aquaculture promises to meet the growing shortfall as the world’s wild fisheries become more and more exhausted.

Sources: The Food and Agriculture Organization, The Audubon Society, Scientific American, The Economist, The Monterey Bay Aquarium, The Catfish Institute.