With wild fish stocks on the brink, Singapore turns to high-tech fish factories for its beloved seafood

SINGAPORE - To have a hope of feeding Singapore at a time when global warming and overfishing are decimating fish stocks around the world, the authorities are looking to seafood farmed Singapore-style for a reliable protein source: high tech, high-yield, sustainable and climate-proof.

"We envisage farming to become more like manufacturing - where production takes place within a controlled environment with a defined input," she said. For example, an aquaculture fish farm can produce up to 50 to 80 tonnes of product in one hectare, while a semi-intensive beef farm will produce about two tonnes of product per hectare, Prof Jerry said.

Ocean warming in the 20th century and beyond has also contributed to a decrease in maximum catch potential, the report noted.“Warming in the ocean reduces mixing between water layers ,and therefore, limits the supply of oxygen and nutrients for marine life,” said Dr Hans-Otto Pörtner, co-chair for IPCC Working Group II, during a press conference on the latest report on Wednesday .

"In some marine ecosystems species are impacted by both the effects of fishing and climate changes," it added. Freshwater aquaculture in the Mekong Delta, for instance, could be affected by sea level rise as a result of climate change. This would lead to saltwater intrusion into areas where it previously has not existed, and wipe out the potential to culture a whole range of freshwater fishes like catfish and carps, he said.Salmon is a cold water fish which does not perform well when water temperatures get above about 18 deg C.

Technological solutions Fish farmers in Singapore have been hit by algae blooms in recent years that wiped out tonnes of fish.

There is no mention here of the huge impact on global fish stocks of feeding farmed fish with the wild caught fish that goes into aquafeed - a massive and often overlooked pressure on vulnerable fisheries fishingthefeed

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