Raised by depression-era parents, I have lived through the 1980s farm crisis, and spent 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal using my first degree (BS agronomy) to help Nepali farmers grow more food.

In the 80s and 90s, one large environmental problem was how to manage sustainable fisheries.  How can mankind feed its growing population without harvesting species to extinction.  So far, we have not run out of food.  It has taken an army of farmers, agricultural scientists, environmentalists, food manufacturers, and many other vocations, working together to keep us in food.

This is one of my favorite charts.  The UN, Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, keeps track of this data.  I like that the yield catch fisheries have plateaued for 30 years.  And the slope of the fish protein demand of the 50s through the 80s continues on with farmed fish, or aquaculture.  Historical fisheries and aquaculture production data illustrate that farming fish complemented the harvesting of natural fishery stocks.

In reality, there are all kinds of problems with both wild catch and farmed fish as human food (environmental, food safety, waste, livestock and wildlife competing for the same habitat).  Excitement on the growth of farmed fish is denying these factors.  But if the animal protein had a hope of sustaining the global population, it required the cultivation of fish and aquatic plants beyond Earth’s initial aquatic resource endowment.

As always, there is a difference between activities in the United States and the World.  This chart today is global fisheries and aquaculture activities.  In the global dynamic, US aquaculture is a tiny contributor.  The United States is working at changing this, but it has been a long road.

• The United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, took on some aquaculture responsibilities in the 1980 Farm Bill.
• In 1998, USDA conducted the first Census of Aquaculture to count aquatic farm production.
• Early in the 2000’s the enabling federal USDA statutes were opened and aquatic plants and animals were added to their authority.  Prior to this time, the wildlife protection statutory authority had primary influence over privately owned fish.  In the balance between wild and farmed aquatic plants and animals the wild species had the lead until USDA was given more authority to support farmed plants and animals.
• By 2020, the US federal aquatic authorities began delivering unified support for the US aquaculture industries.
• The 2023 Census of Aquaculture reported 3,453 aquatic farms selling $1,908,022,000 ($1.9 billion) in 2023 sales.  This is an excellent foundation for the aquatic production sector.

Having 3,400 aquatic US farms is similar to comparing it to the other 1.9 million traditionally terrestrial farms.  The farmed aquatic environment requires a different level of management including delivery of required oxygen to aquatic animals.

Aquaculture provides ready opportunities for food, livestock feed, fuel, fiber, and environmental services, just as traditional terrestrial agriculture has cultivated.  As long as the global population is growing and increasing the quality of their diets, aquaculture will continue to grow and provide human quality of life benefits.  Learning to cultivate aquatic environments is only possible today by advancing the natural ecosystems at the same time.