THE BLUE REVOLUTION

By: Caleb Foo (3S113), Tan Song Ze (3S127)

Contents What is the Blue Revolution What is Aquaculture Importance Advantages & Disadvantages Winners & Losers Challenges faced Case study: Japan Case study: Bangladesh Video Bibliography

What is the Blue Revolution It is the rapid expansion of

intensive, commercial aquaculture Came in a decade after the Green

Revolution (1970s; chemical-based agriculture)

Increase global food production and reduce widespread hunger

What is the Blue Revolution By 1985, international aid agencies

were pumping $200 million a year From 1975 – 1985, world

aquaculture output had doubled Refers to the remarkable emergence

of aquaculture as an important and highly productive agricultural activity

What is Aquaculture Also known as aquafarming Defined as the establishment of man-

made enclosures to raise aquatic life forms, such as shellfish, fish, and sea weeds, for human consumption purposes

Aquaculture refers to all forms of active culturing of aquatic animals and plants, occurring in marine, brackish, or fresh waters

Cultivation of aquatic populations under controlled environments

What is Aquaculture

Aquaculture

Non-animal farming

Algaculture Pearl farming

Animal farming

Aquatic animal farming

What is Aquaculture

Traditional Modern

Type Subsistence Commercial

Capital LowHigh

(Intensive)

Scale Small Small

Importance

20% of the world’s total animal protein intake is from seafood (higher in coastal communities)

Most pearls sold come from pearl aquaculture farms

Advantages

Generates export revenue that can be used to pay foreign debt

Contributed to the growth of large-scale export-oriented agribusiness enterprises in developing nations

Allows natural populations of fish to reproduce while farmed-raised versions are being used for food

Advantages Intensive commercial

aquaculture is relatively efficient – beef cattle require 7 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of meat; catfish require 1.7:1

Economic value of fish is high, hence potential profits to be gained by cultivating in large quantities

Pounds of meat from 7 pounds o...0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

CowsCatfish

Advantages

Fish are given supplement for:Faster growth = increased outputColour of meat (e.g. Salmon) =

Aesthetically more pleasingAntibioticsThese lead to increase in supply and

export

Disadvantages

Chemical additives like antibiotics and special feed are administered into aquaculture cages, which may contaminate surrounding waters

Fish have less health benefits due to injection of hormones

Fish in captivity might escape and establish themselves in new habitat, competing and degrading native species

Disadvantages

As fish are grown very closely together, they are very disease-prone, which not only affect fish output, but other marine life as well

Disadvantages As intensive,

commercial aquaculture is very costly, only those who have enough capital to invest in commercial aquaculture actually benefit from it; Poorer farmers do not have sufficient capital

Disadvantages Generated steady flows of polluted

wastewater and contributed to the decline of wild fisheries (Average salmon farm produces a volume of effluent equal to a town of 40,000 people)

Polluted wastewater caused by artificial feed, chemical additives and antibiotics

Polluted wastewater also reduce supply of drinking water in the area

Disadvantages Triggers ‘red tides’

outbreak and pollutes the foreshore with waste - an explosive growth of toxic algae that can kill fish and fatally poison people who eat contaminated seafood

Disadvantages

New aquaculture techniques resulted in an explosive expansion of coastal shrimp aquaculture throughout developing nations in Asia and Latin America

Disadvantages

Destruction of thousands of hectares of mangrove forests, which protected shorelines from erosion and were the nurseries for thousands of marine organisms

Winners & Losers

Wealthy companies and commercial farmers benefit from aquaculture

Commercial companies buy poor farmers’ land cheaply

Poor subsistence farmers did not benefit as they relied on small ponds for local consumption – commercial farming destroyed thousands of hectares of mangrove forests

Result of aquaculture

In 1987 Taiwan became the largest prawn producer in the world. A year later disease struck and production dropped by 70 per cent. The industry never recovered.

Challenges faced

Over-fishingFishing activities reduce fish

stocks below an acceptable levelLead to resource depletionModern fishing gear allow more

intensive fishing

Challenges faced

BycatchAccidental catch of non-target

species such as sharks, turtles, seabirds

Challenges faced

PollutionMore than 46000 pieces of plastic

litter / mile2

6kg of marine litter to 1kg of plankton

Case study: Japan First to recognise era of

hunting fish was ending World’s largest marine

aquaculture industry Before 1939: 76,000

tons / year By 1987: 1,100,000 tons /

year Along coastlines,

Japanese farm fishes with high market value

Case study: Japan

Disease and pollution problems emergingFish waste and uneaten fish food

accumulate at bottom of sea Sludge below cage sites > 30cm Stifles growth of aquatic organisms

and worsen water quality ‘Red tides’

Case study: Bangladesh Thousands of farmers have suffered from

the invasion of their ricelands by aquaculture owners

Destruction to their rice crops by seepage of salt water from the shrimp ponds

Shrimp owners have been buying up the rice farmers’ infertile lands very cheaply, rendering them landless. One study estimated that 300,000 people were displaced from their farmlands by aquaculture in the Stakhira region alone

Case study: Bangladesh

Disputes between farmers and aquaculture owners have often led to violent clashes

We want our ricelands back!

Video

GOOD: Urban Aquaculture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANpbBZu5ViE&feature=fvw

Bibliography http://www.newint.org/issue234/blue.htm http://cms.iucn.org/news_events/news/

focus/2009_marine/?UNewsID=3162 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaculture http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/aqua-ch.htm http://www.mangroveactionproject.org/

issues/shrimp-farming/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-blue-revolution

http://science.jrank.org/pages/976/Blue-Revolution-Aquaculture.html