Mega Corporations Bet Big
on Fish Farming
Last month, industrial farming giant Cargill made a series of deals intended to secure their future as leaders in the business of fish farming. Among these are acquisitions of fish and shrimp feed producers in Norway and Ecuador, with the end result that the corporation has suddenly expanded from one of the biggest grain trading conglomerates in the world to one of the largest aqua-feed producers. Similarly, Mitsubishi purchased Norway’s Cermaq fishery for more than a billion dollars last year, transforming the Japanese industrial giant into the number two salmon farming concern on earth. None of this is surprising, given that farmed fish has quietly expanded to become one of the largest food industries worldwide, even surpassing beef output in volume as of 2010.
All of this indicates that agricultural interests are poised to increase their presence in aquaculture to the tune of several billion dollars in coming years, with uncertain impacts on family fishermen, environmental balance, and the health of wild fisheries. The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) said they are committed to defending both marine resources and the way of life of coastal communities, and oppose the expansion of unsustainable, ecologically harmful open ocean fish farming that undercuts the market for commercial fisherman. PCFFA does not necessarily oppose sustainable inland, terrestrial- based fish farming operations that operate on closed-cycle systems that cannot interact with or impact natural river, estuary nor offshore ecosystems.
Cargill Aquisitions: http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2015/08/cargill-acquisition-hopes-to-capitalize-on-growing-fish-farm-industry
Cargill-Vietnamese Fish feed Mill: http://www.seafoodsource.com/news/aquaculture/cargill-opens-vietnam-fish-feed-mill
Cargill-Monsanto: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2012/07/02/factory-fed-fish-monsanto-and-cargills-plan-ocean