Just over 70 percent of our planet is covered in water. And around 250,000
known
species
live beneath the surface of all that water — everything from whales the size of
buildings to water fleas barely a millimeter long.
The health of this vast array of sea life is imperative for a healthy planet —
everything from the air we breathe to the stability of the Earth’s climate
depend to some degree on the ability of sea turtles, dolphins, fish, and
countless other aquatic life forms to live and thrive. The world’s oceans supply
about half the oxygen
we breathe and absorb roughly 25 percent of the
CO2
our industrial activities emit on a regular basis; and their inhabitants also
play a crucial role in these processes: Marine worms convert organic material
into carbon
dioxide,
which marine plants photosynthesize; while fish are vital for the production of
the world’s oxygen, plus the sequestration of all that carbon — making them a
key tool in fighting climate
change.
Overexploiting the oceans — a zero-sum game
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the
fishing industry removed and killed up to 2.7 trillion fish each
year between 2007 and 2016.
And as fish consumption continues to increase every year around the globe,
estimates
forecast that the world’s oceans could be virtually empty by 2048.
Another issue with modern-day, industrial fishing is the problem of “bycatch” —
the hundreds of thousands of dolphins, sea turtles, sharks and
whales that die each year from
getting entangled in fishing nets.
Communicating complex, unfamiliar sustainability claims on CPG packaging
Join us as Applegate and HowGood share insights into marketing lessons, consumer response and understanding, and marketplace data on the expression and communication of new categories of sustainability claims on CPG packaging - as well as tips for avoiding consumer and industry backlash and controversy - Wed, Oct. 16, at SB'24 San Diego.
Depleting the planet of the world’s marine wildlife negatively affects coastal
civilizations in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America — as many
impoverished communities have no choice but to catch local fish to feed
themselves and their families. But it’s not just the poor that are in trouble
from overfishing: The fishing industry itself will also be in quite a bind the
day there are barely enough fish to catch — especially as many farmed
fish
are fed wild fish from the oceans — not to mention the additional effect on
global biodiversity, which is already in danger of destabilization from
industrial activities.
“Aquatic animal welfare is important for environmental protection because of its
interconnectedness with water quality, antimicrobial resistance and food
safety,” Christine Xu, head
of strategic initiatives for the Aquatic Life Institute, an
international organization that conducts research and provides advice on aquatic
welfare, told Sustainable Brands® (SB).
The organization also works with corporates to incorporate aquatic-animal
welfare commitments into their business practices.
“In fisheries, more gentle catch and handling methods for fish onboard fishing
vessels means lower bycatch and mortality, which helps both welfare and
conservation efforts of fish populations,” she added.
Foodtech innovators growing solutions
Scientific innovation in food production is offering an even more effective
solution — and foodtech startups including Aqua Cultured
Foods,
Revo
Foods
and Umami
Meats
are producing real, lab-grown seafood without killing or harming any fish (much
less other aquatic species).
As with cell-based (or cultivated)
meat,
cell-based fish and other seafood alternatives are making a splash —taking cells
from fish and potentially other aquatic animals and lab-growing them into a
variety of real seafood products — and entrepreneurs and investors are embracing
the lucrative opportunity to relieve pressure on the oceans.
“We need a new solution to feed people nutritious seafood without compromising
fish stocks. Cell-cultured seafood provides a sustainable alternative that
alleviates pressure on wild fish populations, allowing marine ecosystems to
recover and thrive,” Mia Montanile,
associate director of corporate communications for cell-based seafood company
BlueNalu, told SB.
As communications manager and sustainability lead Shara
Narsipur explained,
California-based BlueNalu (which has already partnered with food giants such
as Nomad
Foods
to scale the delivery of sustainably produced, cell-cultured seafood
products in Europe) uses its platform to make a variety of seafood
products — focusing on species that are difficult to farm raise, susceptible to
contaminants, vulnerable in the wild, and primarily imported. Narsipur said the
team is excited about the progress with its first offering, bluefin tuna
toro.
The future of cell-based seafood
In 2022, cultivated meat and seafood companies received close to $900 million
from investors, with a cumulative all-time investment of nearly $3 billion,
according to the Good Food
Institute;
and the cultivated-seafood industry is
projected to see a
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.1 percent through 2030. But a few
hurdles remain before it becomes available in local supermarkets.
As Montanile explained, BlueNalu “is focused on continuing our scale-up journey
— getting regulatory approval in the US,
Singapore
and additional nations around the world; and then launching our products into
commerce within selected restaurants. In tandem, we’re working with culinary
partners to perfect our product and conducting market research around the world
to home in on consumer preferences in each region we plan to go to market.”
As with animal products made from plants and
cells,
cultivated seafood startups are ramping up production to save our planet — which
of course includes that 70 percent covered in water. And this may only be the
beginning.
“We have already completed a comprehensive, techno-economic analysis based upon
our process parameters; and we are making plans for long-term, large-scale
commercialization,” Montanile concluded.
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Roberto Guerra is a bilingual writer, editor, entrepreneur, corporate engagement and communications specialist, and US Air Force veteran with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Universidad de la Sabana (Bogota, Colombia) and an International Master in Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility from EOI Business School (Madrid, Spain). Born in New York and raised in Florida, Roberto is former managing director for the Spanish-language version of vegan business magazine "vegconomist" and is also author of three novels. He has lived, worked and studied on four different continents.
Published Apr 3, 2024 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST