Space Industry and Business News  
WATER WORLD
New index measures impact of fish farming on environment

by Staff Writers
Vancouver (AFP) Oct 27, 2010
Researchers in Canada on Wednesday released the first scientific index designed to measure the impact of fish farming on the environment.

Aquaculture has become increasingly controversial because of fears it can harm the environment and use up too many resources.

Until now however, there has been no clear way to measure the environmental impact of the practice, said researcher John Volpe, from the University of Victoria, told AFP.

Volpe said his "Global Aquaculture Performance Index" -- developed with help from the US-based Pew Environmental Group and funding from the American Lenfest Foundation -- is intended for use by "industry, farmers, bureaucrats, government ministers and other decision makers."

The tool is similar to the "ecological footprint" concept used around the world to assess the overall impact of humans on the environment.

Salmon farming in ocean pens already is controversial in North America because of concerns that farmed salmon spreads parasitic lice among already-threatened populations of wild salmon.

But the index ranked other species of farmed fish as "far, far, worse," said Volpe.

"Nearly anything coming out of Asia is problematic," he said, because of unregulated use of antibiotics, spread of parasites, and a greater use of wild species caught without regulations.

"Some aquaculture production systems enable and facilitate unsustainable fisheries practices," he said, noting aquaculture has boomed in China especially over the past five years.

The index measures the impact of fish farms according to 10 factors.

These include the impact on the environment of capturing fish in the wild; the use of cleaning chemicals and antibiotics; the economic damage incurred when farmed fish escape into the wild; energy costs; and the impact on water oxygen levels.

Volpe noted that sustainable foods are increasingly popular, as "eat local" and "slow food" movements flourishing in most developed countries.

But sustainability, he said, is "hard enough to measure in terrestrial agriculture, where things are simpler."

"Seafood is more complex. You're dealing with the most international, globalized foodstuff that humans consume," he said.

"We hold seafood to a different standard -- a different level of ignorance," said Volpe.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


WATER WORLD
Pacific fisheries face collapse by 2035: study
Wellington (AFP) Oct 27, 2010
Pacific island fisheries face collapse in the next 25 years as overfishing, population growth and climate change threaten one of the region's main economic resources, a study warned Wednesday. The report, published by the Noumea-based Secretariat of the Pacific Community, said the two billion US dollar a year industry was poorly managed, with a lack of coordination between the 22 island nati ... read more







WATER WORLD
Plant-Based Plastics Not Necessarily Greener Than Oil-Based Relatives

Two Dissimilar Materials Display Unexpected Magnetism

Converting Acid Rain Chemicals Into Useful Products

Australia's Telstra iPad-style budget tablet

WATER WORLD
First MEADS Intra-Fire Unit Communications Hardware Delivered

Raytheon Reaches Milestone In Naval SATCOM Program

Boeing Receives Secure Messaging Technology Contract Extension from US Army

Indian army in communication system tender

WATER WORLD
Boeing Ships LightSquared's SkyTerra One Mobile ComSat To Launch Site

Hylas-1 Satellite Readied For Launch From European Spaceport

ILS Proton Successfully Launches XM-5 Satellite

Ariane Moves Into Final Phase Of Globalstar Soyuz 2 Launch Campaign

WATER WORLD
'Exorbitant' price talk for Galileo maps way off beam: EU

Russia To Launch 8 Glonass Navigation Satellites In 2011-2013

S.Africa implants GPS chips in rhino horns to fight poaching

Rhinos equipped with GPS tracking

WATER WORLD
NASA Releases Report About Australia Balloon Mishap

Aeromexico Operates Its First "Green Flight"

India mulls Boeing Globemaster III deal

Boeing Projects 90 Billion Dollar Commercial Airplanes Market In Russia And CIS

WATER WORLD
Intel to open billion-dollar chip plant in Vietnam

Intel to invest up to 8 billion dollars in US chip plants

Intel posts three billion dollar quarterly net profit

Motorola sues Apple for patent infringement

WATER WORLD
Modeling The Fiery Past And Future Of Planet Earth

Italy slaps restrictions on Google's Street View

TRMM Watches Richard Dump Rain On Belize

China launches own version of Google Earth

WATER WORLD
South Africa in race against toxic mine water threat

Chinese city offers cash for cigarette butts

Microbes May Consume Far More Oil-Spill Waste Than Earlier Thought

Chinese iPhone workers poisoned by chemical: report


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement