374 Fish as feed inputs for aquaculture – Practices, sustainability and implications
best tackled as a fishery management problem, i.e. by modifying gear/fishing methods
and/or by imposing time or area limitations on fishing.
There are several drawbacks associated with the use of wild fish as direct feed (e.g.
pollution, risks of disease transmission, high feed conversion ratios). Government
policy in China is, therefore, to encourage farmers to use pelleted feed instead of wild
fish mixed in farm-made feeds. It is likely that this policy will be effective and the
practice will subside, and not only in China.Conclusions
Most feed fisheries do not subtract large amounts of cheap fish for the poor. Although
aquaculture, by the use of feedfish, may reduce the supply of foodfish in the world,
it creates employment opportunities for the poor and undernourished, particularly in
Asia. However, a combination of intense fishing and environmental variability means
that the sustainability of some feed fisheries continues to be under threat.
Seen from the perspective of the poor and the undernourished, the use of bycatch as
aquaculture feed is a much more dubious practice. In regions adjacent to large fishing
harbours, particularly in China, Thailand and Viet Nam, the practice does reduce the
supply of cheap fish for the poor, and aquaculture does not compensate for this by
generating more employment than what would have been available if the fish had
been used for food. In fact, employment and income opportunities for the poor would
increase considerably if the bycatch now used as feed could be used as food.
There is a concern that the use of fish as feed leads to less food and at times also
to smaller incomes for the poor and undernourished. To date, governments have not
effectively limited the practice of using fish as feed in order to safeguard a supply
of cheap fish – either by limiting the use of small pelagic fish for the production of
fishmeal and fish oil or by restricting the use of bycatch as animal feed and thereby
increasing the supply of cheap fish as food.
One explanation for this lack of action may be that public policies aiming to
alleviate poverty and improve the nutritional status of the poor give priority to creating
employment for the poor. Employment (whether self-employed or salaried) has proven
to be the best way to ensure poverty alleviation, which in turn leads to improved
nutritional status. Providing cheap food (including fish) to people is more often part
of schemes meant to support victims of natural or man-made disasters (including crop
failures) than part of long-term strategies aiming to lift the poor out of poverty.
Also attempts to create employment are faced with obstacles. Governments that
want to establish food industries based on feed fisheries have very limited possibilities
to do so. One reason is international trade law; the international trade in fish and fish
products means that economic and fiscal policies directed towards fish processing
industries must respect both international agreements on international trade and
the parameters guiding national economic and fiscal policies vis-à-vis national food
industries.