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🐚 One of the most shellfish things that someone can do while they’re dating around is to catfish someone—as in to trick someone into thinking that they’re someone who they’re not.

💭 Have you ever wondered why we call that act catfishing?

🎥 So the term originates from Nev Shulman’s 2010 film, Catfish, in which he is tricked by a woman’s false online persona. Here’s a short video explaining this:

🐈🐟 Catfish also happens to be one of the most widely cultivated fish species in the world—particularly in Southeast Asia—surpassing tilapia as the top fish species cultivated in freshwater aquaculture in the past couple of years (The Fish Site, 2021).

🦐 Beyond these two fish species, shrimp is a major aquaculture product as well. That’s why we are so excited to co-author the issue this week with our good friend, Guntur, the CEO of DELOS!

⏮️ Having already discussed sustainable fisheries 🎣 and seaweed 🌿 in the past couple of weeks, we thought it would be a great oppor-tuna-ty to end the blue economy series by discussing one of the best kept sea-crets of the past few decades: aquaculture!

🤿 So let’s take a deep dive into what aquaculture is and what role it can play in the context of social, economic, and environmental development.

🤔 What’s the deal with aquaculture?

🍽️ Since the dawn of time, a single question has dominated the minds of human civilization until recent history: “Where am I going to get my next meal?” For the first few hundred thousand years of our existence as a species, the answer to this question would have been running around a jungle to find edible plants and animals, or swimming in a body of water to spearfish.

🏹 Our entire species hunted and gathered, until we realized we could cultivate crops and raise animals for food—which is a development that happened relatively recently in our history: only a few thousand years ago. These techniques allowed us to provide ourselves with a stable supply of food in a single location, which enabled the development of modern civilization.

🧑🏻‍🌾 This collection of techniques is what we know today as agriculture, from “ager”, or field, and “colo”, which means to cultivate. Essentially, agriculture describes the techniques that allows us to manage and cultivate a plot of land to grow what we want on it for a plethora of different purposes.

💧 Aquaculture—on the other hand—is a collection of techniques that allows for the cultivation of water (instead of land) as a growth medium, where we in turn harvest aquatic organisms for different purposes, but predominantly for food.

🐡 Aquaculture today comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and different levels of so-fish-tication: from traditional to modern to fully technologically integrated . However it all boils down to growing organisms for food in controlled aquatic environments.

Aquaculture can be further disaggregated into 2 types:

• ⛵ Marine aquaculture: deals with the cultivation of ocean-based species, such as salmon, oysters, marine shrimp, clams, mussels, and seaweed. This production can be further disaggregated into around 70% from aquatic animals and 30% from algae/seaweed. It comprises just under half of total aquaculture production.

• 🚣🏻 Freshwater aquaculture: includes species such as trout, catfish, tilapia, and some freshwater shrimp. It comprises just over half of total production.

🎏 Despite being one of the leading sources of globally consumed seafood-based protein, the aquaculture industry is still playing it koi about communicating the overall benefits to the planet and the size of the industry!

🍣 Chances are, if you’ve had a plate of salmon for sushi recently, that salmon was farmed—as over 70% of all salmon consumed today is farmed, rather than wild caught. You can thank aquaculture, and specifically the Norwegians, for that.

📊 To give you an idea of how prevalent aquaculture is in today’s food supply, It’s worth starting with the same chart from our sustainable fisheries issue to show just how much aquaculture production has grown in the last few decades (red line).

📈 Total production (in tonnes) from aquaculture actually surpassed capture fisheries production around a decade ago and has been growing since. While aquaculture production is only around 36% larger than that of fisheries production—123M tonnes vs 90M tonnes—the total value of this production is about double at USD280B for aquaculture vs USD141B for fisheries! (FAO, 2023).

↗️ Global seafood consumption is set to continue to increase, due to factors such as population and economic growth with researchers projecting that global demand will double by 2050 (NewScientist, 2021).

How do we continue to feed that demand? Logically speaking, the more fish we catch, the less fish there will be in the sea, so there will be a cap that can be supplied by catch fisheries. Thus, the only logical answer, is sustainable and scalable aquaculture. The growth of wild-capture fisheries has slowed in recent years, yet in contrast, aquaculture has maintained a steady pace, especially in Southeast Asia (WRI Indonesia, 2022)!

🌏 Asia is the region that’s most responsible for this growth, comprising over 90% of global production. Indonesia alone produces 6M metric tons of aquaculture—the greatest number of production outside of China (Asian Scientist, 2023). 

🌐 As the infographic above shows, Southeast Asia contributes to 21% of all aquaculture production worldwide despite only covering 3% of the world’s mass (SEAFDEC, 2022). This is a massively outsized contribution relative to the geographical size of the region, which indicates a certain level of natural competitive advantage; meaning that it’s a highly strategic asset to ASEAN in terms of food security and economic impact (ISEAS, 2023). 

🧩 The question is: how do we optimize to take advantage of this opportunity? The answer lies in capitalizing on connecting the puzzle pieces together through consolidation. Let’s take the example of the largest archipelagic nation in the world: our home, Indonesia.

🌞 Even though our country boasts an abundance of sea, sun, and labor, our country’s aquaculture value chain is still both fragmented and inefficient with high costs as a result; for instance the cost of running aquaculture is heavily dependent on its feed, which constitutes around 70% of its production cost on average (Nature, 2020). Moreover, yields wildly vary, and seldom do we have visibility or control over global commodity prices due to asymmetrical information and market fragmentation. As a result, Indonesia isn’t as globally competitive as it should be, and production is actually on a decline.

🥇 However, even with its slight decline over the years, Indonesia is still the leading country in aquaculture production in the Southeast Asian region. Indonesia and Southeast Asia need to focus on the benefits of aquaculture while addressing its key challenges…

➕ Benefits

• 🐟 Aquaculture saves wild fish populations! The practice of farming seafood decreases pressure on dwindling wild fish stocks, especially as human consumption continues to increase.

• 💧 It saves freshwater & land! The practice of farming seafood also uses significantly less freshwater to produce the same amount of protein as it would livestock, which frees up fresh water stocks for human consumption or other uses. Moreover, this reduced need for land decreases pressures on land use conversion, thus leading to less deforestation.

• 💪🏻 Efficient protein production: In agri/aquaculture, there is a term called the Food Conversion Ratio (FCR). This refers to the amount of feed inputs required in order to produce a certain amount of protein during production. On average, a cow would need about 5-10 kgs of feed that to produce 1kg of edible protein. Compare this to the average fish, which only needs about 1-1.5 kgs of feed to produce 1kg of edible protein. This difference represents 80-90% in FCR savings to produce the same kg of edible protein!

• 🤑 More affordable and stable seafood supply: a lot of wild caught seafood is both seasonal and somewhat rare, especially for what are considered luxurious and high-demand items such as salmon and shrimp. This means that the average consumer can be expected to pay top dollar for these fish, and would only expect to eat them during different seasons. With the ability to culture these species, we have been able to stabilize supply all year round and decrease the need to fish the species out of the sea, thereby securing their continuity and defending them from overconsumption.

➖ Challenges

All that being said, as with any new technology or method of production, there are some dangers associated with aquaculture if not practiced properly, or according to the latest global standards. Typically, the dangers associated with aquaculture lie in the production methodology, which impacts the surrounding environment. These include…

• ⚗️ Effluent & Antibiotics: If not managed properly, the inputs required for high-density farming, such as feed and some supporting chemicals— such as sanitizing chemicals or antibiotics—may leech into the general water supply, thereby disrupting and destroying ambient water quality and quality of life under the water. 

• 🤒 Diseases: like in urban cities, culturing species in a high density environment can lead to easier and more widespread outbreaks of diseases in cultured species. Think of salmon, shrimp, and other fish getting sick more easily in culture tanks or ponds, which may leach out into the ambient water. Fortunately, DELOS’s partner TeOra—who we’ll be shouting out later—is tackling this and the aforementioned antibiotics issue, starting with shrimp.

• 🪓 Mangrove deforestation: historically speaking, traditional aquaculture happened to grow in coastal areas where mangrove forests were also present. Older aquaculturists found that simply cutting down mangrove forests to build aquaculture ponds would be a good idea. It wasn’t. Luckily, CarbonEthics—who we are featuring later on—are tackling this very issue!

• 🥵 Warming oceans: “Let’s not boil the ocean” is something you might hear from a McKinsey consultant, but in this case we mean it literally… Climate change has severely impacted the ocean temperatures, making it as hot as ever. Oceans have absorbed the brunt of global warming, trapping 93% of excess heat in the biosphere. On top of rising temperatures, ocean acidification—which refers to the drop in pH levels within seawater—has also become a threat. Since the pre-industrial era, there has been a 30% increase in ocean acidity. The level of acidity is severely fatal to the ocean biodiversity, and in comparison to humans, it is the same as seizures, comas, and even death (Fulcrum, 2023).

🚀 The more the ocean has to bear the brunt of climate change, the more the aquaculture industry will be in danger of destabilization. More precarious ambient ocean temperatures means more precarious aquaculture conditions, which means riskier business. Thus, the aquaculture community is well incentivized to be part of the solution for climate change. This is why we’re optimistic about the Blue Revolution!

📚 Want to learn more about this topic?

1. “Project seeks to improve Indonesian shrimp farming sector” from The Fish Site

2. “The Southeast Asian State of Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022” from SEAFDEC

3. “Major drivers of coastal aquaculture expansion in Southeast Asia” from Ocean & Coastal Management

4. “The State of World Fisheries & Aquaculture 2022” from FAO

📢 Shout-outs to TeOra & CarbonEthics!

🧑🏻‍🔬 TeOra is a Singapore-based startup that is pioneering the production and delivery of vaccines for aquaculture, starting with the shrimp industry. Shrimp are delicate species and are sensitive to changes in temperature, salinity and water quality, enabling disease outbreaks; thus temperature rise caused by climate change increases the chances of lower shrimp production.

💊 Bridging multiple disciplines, TeOra have engineered a vaccine delivery method that can be ingested orally alongside feed. They won the Liveability Challenge by Temasek Foundation earlier this year, with a grand prize of $1M.

📧 They are currently hiring & fundraising and can be reached here www.teoralife.com or via email at [email protected]

💙 Meet CarbonEthics, an organization that aims to restore the climate balance through natural climate solutions with pioneers in blue carbon conservation. 

🌊 Did you know that blue carbon, absorbed by marine and coastal ecosystems, can capture up to 10 times more carbon than terrestrial trees?

Their work mainly focuses on 2 things: 

1. 🌱Nature Rehabilitation

2. 🌳Carbon Offsets

🏝️In their 4 years journey, they have planted more than 212,000 biotas, including mangrove, seaweed, seagrass, and coral thus capable of absorbing more than 8,000,000 kg of CO₂e emissions, and reached more than 1 million people on blue carbon education.

💙CarbonEthics put the coastal community at the heart of their restoration efforts, impacting over 284 beneficiaries across Indonesia through capacity-building, climate education, and infrastructure support.

🌱 As they continue to grow and expand their impact, CarbonEthics is currently open to organizational financing opportunities. If you're an investor looking to contribute to climate action through nature, please don't hesitate to email them at [email protected], or email the co-founder [email protected].

🗞️ Recent News

👍🏻 Good News

🐠 SEA’s Largest Aquaculture Tech Company (eFishery) Looks to Establish a Global Foothold with Successful Expansion to India (Acrofan, 15 December 2023)

👎🏻 Bad News

♊ Climate change’s ‘evil twin’ is eating away at Southeast Asia’s seafood. Can it be stopped? (SCMP, 11 June 2023)

📢 Other Voices

🪴 “Developing Regenerative Aquaculture in Southeast Asia” by Adibi M. Nor (Heinrich Böll Stiftung, 23 October 2023)

🛟 “Keeping Southeast Asia Afloat: Restorative Aquaculture Key to its Food Resilience” by Elyssa Kaur Ludher (ISEAS, 20 April 2023)

🏄🏻‍♂️ “Riding the Wave of Modern Aquaculture” by IPI (Asian Scientist, January 26 2023)

🎙️ Interview with Guntur of DELOS

💡 Why were you initially inspired to work in aquaculture?

🎲 Honestly, like a lot of great things, this happened by chance. My dad wanted a nice quiet place to retire peacefully when he turns 68, so he decided that having a plot of land by the sea in the middle of nowhere would be ideal. Next thing you know, we’re trying to scale via the start-up method and DELOS was born!

🛠️ How exactly is DELOS solving problems in the aquaculture space?

🦐 DELOS was inspired by my family shrimp farm, Dewi Laut Aquaculture—thus DELOS actually stands for DEwi Laut Operating System. We are building a holistic set of technologies and operating systems that will allow us to scalably solve two of the main problems of aquaculture today: yield and fragmentation.

🎢 Aquaculture yields—and by implication: volumes and profits—of farms still wildly fluctuate between cycles and areas. This has resulted in Indonesia becoming less competitive in the global seafood market, despite having the most potential. On top of that, the fact that our aquaculture industry is super fragmented doesn’t allow for operational efficiency or synergies across the value chain, which, again, makes us less competitive!

⭐ We’re trying to change that, and create a company that is truly able to raise your seafood all the way from the farm and deliver it directly to tables all across the world.

DELOS operates on the guiding principles of 🌊TIDE, which stands for:

🤖 T: technical excellence, which guides us to keep improving our tech and processes for production

❤️ I: improving communities, which keeps us cognizant of our contribution to the local communities where we operate

😁 D: demonstrably good products, which pushes us to keep producing products that are good and good for you

🌏 E: environmentally conscious, which forces us to think about how our operations impact the environment, and optimize for minimizing that.

😲 What is a surprising fact about aquaculture?

🚀 The fact that it has already overtaken fisheries in supplying seafood to the world since 2015 and is still growing!

🎬 What actions can readers take now to support your cause?

🍴 Eat more seafood (farmed, not caught)!

🦸🏻 What do you do when you’re not saving the world?

🏊🏻🚵🏻🏃🏻‍♂️ I am currently training for the 70.3 half ironman event in Nice, France! Hopefully making this process public will keep me more accountable to my training 🙂

⏭️ We’ll be taking a break from publishing as we regroup to plan our content for the next year!

❓ Did you enjoy this week’s issue? If yes, please forward to your friends who would enjoy the read as well. Also, feel free to let us know what you thought by giving us feedback at [email protected].

🌊 SEA you next year!

Karina & Massimiliano