A growing number of the world's investors are waking up to something only a small group of private equity funds, trade buyers, venture capitalists and M&A advisors have known for years: there's big money to be made in seafood.

The race is on, and the accelerating rate at which private equity firms in particular are investing in the seafood sector shows that fund managers recognize the industry -- processing, fisheries, aquaculture and equipment -- has all the right drivers.

Simply put, there is a lot of demand for capital in the seafood industry, and private equity funds have more cash to deploy than ever.