Sustainable Practices in Marine Aquaculture

In response to escalating global demand for seafood and the imperative to conserve marine ecosystems, sustainable marine aquaculture has evolved multifaceted approaches that reconcile production goals with environmental stewardship. Central strategies include the cultivation of low-trophic species such as seaweed and bivalves, which require no external feed inputs and actively remove excess nutrients. Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) systems further enhance resource efficiency by co-culturing species from different trophic levels, thereby recycling waste streams and diversifying farm outputs. Advances in feed technology—particularly the replacement of fishmeal and fish oil with microbial, insect-based or agricultural by-products—have reduced reliance on wild fisheries and improved feed conversion ratios. Strategic site selection guided by marine spatial planning and habitat suitability modelling minimises conflicts with other ocean uses, protects sensitive habitats and reduces disease transmission risk. Real-time monitoring, enabled by automated sensor networks and digital traceability platforms, supports adaptive management, ensures regulatory compliance and strengthens consumer confidence. Collectively, these innovations underpin the transition towards a resilient, low-impact marine food sector that contributes to blue economy objectives and global food security.

Research from Nature Portfolio

One foundational study has developed a quantitative marine spatial planning framework that evaluates thousands of potential offshore aquaculture configurations—encompassing finfish, bivalves and seaweeds—against criteria such as existing wild-capture fisheries, benthic impacts, disease spread and economic return. By identifying site combinations that deliver high yields and revenue with minimal ecosystem disturbance, this work offers a replicable decision-support tool for policymakers and industry stakeholders. A complementary investigation has employed multi-attribute decision analysis to integrate biodiversity conservation goals with aquaculture expansion, highlighting analytical methods that balance stakeholder priorities, ecosystem service valuation and regulatory constraints. Together, these contributions illustrate how rigorous optimisation and scenario modelling can guide sustainable growth of offshore aquaculture while safeguarding marine environments.

Sustainable Practices in Marine Aquaculture publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in sustainable practices in marine aquaculture across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Mariculture: The practice of farming marine organisms—including fish, shellfish and seaweeds—in open or contained ocean environments.

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA): A system in which species from different trophic levels are co-cultured so that the waste of one species serves as input (e.g. nutrients or feed) for another, enhancing resource efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Marine spatial planning (MSP): A structured process for allocating marine space to different activities—such as aquaculture, fisheries, shipping and conservation—to minimise conflicts and optimise ecological, economic and social outcomes.

Habitat suitability index (HSI): A modelling metric that quantifies the suitability of a given marine area for aquaculture based on environmental parameters such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and current patterns.

References

1. A traits-based approach to assess aquaculture’s contributions to food, climate change, and biodiversity goals. npj Ocean Sustainability (2024).
2. Climate Change Effects on Aquaculture Production: Sustainability Implications, Mitigation, and Adaptations. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (2021).
3. Marine spatial planning makes room for offshore aquaculture in crowded coastal waters. Nature Communications (2018).
4. Global estimation of areas with suitable environmental conditions for mariculture species. PLOS ONE (2018).
5. Mapping the spatial distribution of global mariculture production. Aquaculture (2022).