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E
nvironment
:
air
,
water
,
oceans
,
climate
change
near-permanent basis, so the number of permanently designated
MPAs gives a limited picture of the extent of conservation in
Icelandic waters.
Efforts in preventing pollution and conserving biodiversity in the
ocean need to be expanded, while sustainable development requires
us to look further at the opportunities offered by huge expanses of
sea. Well over a third of the ice-free part of dry land is used for agri-
culture, but a growing human population, with an increased appetite
for meat and other animal protein, demands increased food produc-
tion. In 2050 there will be more than 9 billion people inhabiting
Earth and we need about 70 per cent more food than we currently
produce to feed them and eliminate hunger. This intensifies pres-
sure on rainforests and wetlands, along with other important and
productive land-based ecosystems.
Capture fisheries now provide a little over 80 million tons of fish
from the sea, the importance of which should not be overlooked.
To produce meat for replacing annual fish landings would require
almost 140 million km
2
of grazing land, which is more than 20 times
all the rainforests on the planet.
Improvements in the way fisheries are managed might increase
this yield, but it seems unlikely they can expand significantly, so
it is worth ensuring poor management does not cause them to
shrink further. We have learned that fisheries must
take account of the biosphere as a whole to avoid
disrupting food chains and vulnerable ecosystems, or
overexploiting resources. We must use the right tools in
creating the right incentives for long-term stewardship
of resources. Lifecycle assessments show that captur-
ing wild fish is highly energy-efficient in comparison to
raising land animals and produces only a fraction of the
GHGs generated by animal husbandry.
In contrast to the reduction in landing captured fish,
the rise in aquaculture has been remarkable and now
constitutes almost 50 per cent of all fish intended for
human consumption. There is no reason to believe
aquaculture cannot continue its growth, relieving
pressure on both capture fisheries and land use for
food production. While fish farming has occurred for
millennia, large-scale aquaculture is a recent phenom-
enon with concerns that need addressing, from
pollution to sustainable feeding of farmed fish. Despite
these challenges, it is likely the oceans hold the great-
est promise in achieving sufficient and sustainable
food production.
Seas – the future
Image: Hugi Ólafsson