Aquaculture is big business with exciting and real potential. But it is also risky, with growing pains revealing themselves in the shape of disease, parasites and technology that simply doesn’t make the cut for bigger farms and more challenging conditions. And this is a problem if the industry wants sustainable growth and, importantly, sustainable investment.
Ask any investor what deters them from piling all their cash into aquaculture and they’ll tell you: it’s the largely unquantifiable amount of risk, the vast majority of which is uninsured and a lot of which is unmanaged.
The drastic impact weather events, disease and environmental meltdown can have on a fish or shellfish farm keeps bankers and private equity fund managers awake at night. As it does, I imagine, many a producer.
But progress is being made and exciting innovations are clearing a path to a more sustainable and risk-managed future.
The salmon industry is, as usual, leading the charge and wide and varying solutions are underway, from land-based farming where all parameters are controlled and risk minimized, to breeding advances and improved fish health management through vaccines and sophisticated feed.
All these paths give their own unique handle on managing and minimizing risk, but they all also come at a cost, whether it be finance, ethics or market-based.
The concept of bringing fish farms on land creates a divide in the industry, but there is no denying its appeal in the amount of control it allows, with the damage incurred by weather, escapes, sealice and environmental impact all efficiently removed. It does, however, come at a financial cost. So is it economically viable? On what scale? And where is it best implemented?
Genetics and breeding is another important strand in the equation, with today’s modern salmon industry very much reliant on the steps taken so far in the field, creating a strong strain of fish with market appeal. There is still much that can be done in this sector, with increased disease resistance, faster growth and sea lice minimization all possible, but where should attention be focused? How far should it be taken? And what is the message to consumers?
To give real insight into the real risks of the aquaculture sector and the innovations being put in place to manage them, IntraFish will be hosting a first-of-its-kind Risk and Innovation panel at our forthcoming London Investment Forum next month. And we will be asking ALL these questions.
With one of the world’s most expert aquaculture risk managers, a leading tech provider in the field of land-based farming and innovators in the field of fish health and genetics, the panel will give real insight for investors into the advances being made to minimize risk and create more efficient, more sustainable and more profitable operations in the future.
For while the risks are many, there are exciting innovations afoot to manage them.
