The Good Food Institute (GFI) has released two white papers that delve into the potential of alternative seafood to meet the increasing global seafood demand while achieving the world’s climate and biodiversity goals.
With seafood production projected to grow by 14% from 2020 to 2030, traditional fishing and aquaculture will impact the oceans and the environment severely, threatening biodiversity and marine habitats, argues GFI.
“Reimagining seafood production represents a significant opportunity for biodiversity restoration”
However, plant-based and cultivated seafood have the potential to mitigate GHG emissions and also address other global challenges, such as biodiversity loss, nutrition, public health, and food security. GFI’s new research reports shed light on how policymakers, researchers, and ocean advocates can advance alternative seafood.
Building climate policy momentum for alternative seafood
This white paper explores how plant-based and cultivated seafood could fill the growing seafood supply gap while reducing the GHG emissions associated with conventional seafood production.
According to the paper, plant-based seafood has a significantly lower greenhouse gas footprint than conventionally farmed fish and crustaceans, while cultivating seafood (if produced using renewable energy) requires less energy than cultivating red meat and poultry due to lower temperatures, making it a potentially more climate-friendly alternative.
Moreover, the report provides policymakers and advocates relevant data about the climate impact of alternative seafood. It highlights the necessary policy initiatives to support public R&D investments, streamline the regulatory process, ensure fair labeling practices, and promote policies that protect the oceans.
“Alternative seafood has the potential to provide healthy, geographically distributed, and nutritionally dense protein while relieving pressure on ocean ecosystems in the face of human population growth,” comments GFI.
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