science assignment

The topic I want to talk about today is the regarding our current fishing habits and the impact we have on the oceans, its fish supplies, and in turn our health. Let me start by illustrating how crucial fish is in the world: 3 billion people depend on fish for at least 15 % of their average protein impact. The demand for seafood is expected to grow at 10% annualy.

The oceans have been polluted by toxins such as heavy metals, mercury, oil and other harmful toxins and contaminants. In addition to the toxins we have introduced into the oceans ecosystem, we are overfishing our wild fish supplies In 1950, less than 1 million tons of fish where farmed per year, by 2009 more than 55 million tons where farmed. Even though this drastic increase in fishing may be linked to population increase, on Average, each person around the world is eating 4 times as much seafood as much seafood as what they where in the 1950’s.

Contaminated oceans and overfishing of our wild fish supplies means the number of fish in the wild declining, but the wild fish that we are eating are contaminated, and ultimately affecting our health.

The objective of my speech is to pitch a sustainable fish farming system as the solution to this global issue.

Commercial fish farms have been around since the 1990’s as open-net farms in the oceans and lakes. These involve open nets where fish are farmed. The issue with this is that the fish are grown in a net and do not get much exercise and are still exposed to the contamination of the environment they are in.

The system I propose is a land-based closed containment aquaculture environment where the fish grow up in tanks on the land. Research has been done into this type of fish farm solutions, and fish has been grown successfully and commercially. The tanks are round and pumps mimic natural currents in the wild, so the fish being grown get their exercise. In addition, the water conditions can be controlled to offer ideal water temperature, salinity, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels and reduce the risk of contamination and parasites.

These systems have become 100% automated, with regular feeding schedules and a computer system that monitors the water quality every minute. This is crucial to have a low-stress environment for the fish.

This type of system is ideal as it does not affect the wild fish and offers us a sustainable way of growing healthy and toxin free fish that can be setup anywhere in the world. We can even control the amount of fish we grow as the demand increases in the world.

The reason this type of sustainable solution is not commonly used is because it is comparatively more expensive than growing fish in open-net farms in the ocean, sea or lakes.

The United Nations says that a 100% increase in fish farming is necessary over the next 10 years to maintain the growing demand for fish around the world. This solution would be ideal to cater to this demand.