Four biggest aquaculture trends in 2018

The four trends are: reduction in the use of antibiotics; continued industry growth; focus on sustainability; and the evolution of aquaculture systems and equipment.

“Aquaculture producers faced intense pressure in 2017 for their overuse of antimicrobials. With the World Health Organization labeling antimicrobial resistance a major threat to worldwide health, the discussion of antibiotic use will take center stage in 2018,” says the Texas-based company. “Many organizations are already calling for restrictions on the use of antibiotics and—in some cases—proposals have been presented to completely halt the use of antibiotics.”

Bentoli says all indications show continued growth for the aquaculture industry over the next decade. It noted that global aquaculture has grown at an impressive rate of 5.8 percent annually since 2005.

The new year will usher in a year filled with more growth and more change for aquaculture when it comes to aquaculture systems and equipment. “In an industry that’s experiencing massive development, aquaculture shows great promise despite exhibiting signs of growing pains,” it says.

Finally, the company sees the quest for sustainability to remain in focus. Discussion of sustainability will be surrounded by issues of environmental degradation, impact of farmed species on wild gene pools, and feed. “Feed systems have changed to meet the growing demand for higher inclusion of nutrients in aquaculture diets,” it added.