Þegar laxeldismenn segjast vera að framleiða mat fyrir hungraðan heim þá eru þeir að ljúga að ykkur.
Til að framleiða eina máltíð af eldislaxi þarf prótein og næringarefni sem myndu duga að lágmarki í þrjár til fjórar máltíðir fyrir fólk.
Það þarf miklu meira af próteini til framleiðslunnar en hún gefur af sér.
Laxeldi er því ekki framleiðslukerfi á mat á heimsvísu heldur fæðuminnkunarkerfi sem kerfisbundið kemur niður á íbúum á vesturströnd Afríku og víðar. Þar stunda fyrirtæki grófa rányrkju á uppsjávarfiski sem áður fór á matarborð heimafólks en er nú malaður og bræddur í fóður fyrir fiskeldi.
Í greinni sem hér fylgir er farið yfir hvernig óseðjandi þörf sjókvíaeldisfyrirtækjanna mun leiða til hruns á villtum fiskistofnum ef ekki verður gripið í taumana.
Við mælum með þessari umfjöllun Forbes:
A new report from the FAIRR Initiative—an $80 trillion-backed investor network focused on ESG risks in protein production—exposes a growing contradiction at the heart of the global salmon farming industry. The sector markets itself as sustainable yet increasingly relies on a shrinking, finite resource—wild fish—for its survival.
Released ahead of the 2025 UN Ocean Conference, the report follows a four-year engagement with seven of the world’s largest publicly listed salmon producers and delivers a stark warning: without urgent reform, the industry’s feed supply chain could buckle under its own expansion.
These companies represent 58% of global farmed salmon production, with over 1.2 million tonnes produced in 2023. FAIRR’s analysis reveals systemic environmental, regulatory, and financial risks tied to dependence on wild-caught fish, exposing a deep disconnect between sustainability claims and operational reality.
Supply Chain Risk From Finite Fish ResourcesThe industry’s dependence on fishmeal and fish oil, both derived from wild-caught fish, is a growing vulnerability. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 90% of global fisheries are already overexploited or at capacity. Yet salmon producers continue to lean heavily on this strained input to support projected production increases of 40% by 2033.
In 2023, when Peru cancelled its anchovy fishing season, fish oil prices surged by 107%. Mowi, the world’s largest salmon producer, reported a 70% rise in feed costs between 2021 and 2023 due to that single event. Some companies temporarily switched to algae oil during the price spike, only to revert once fisheries opened—highlighting a reactive approach that favors short-term cost savings over long-term resilience.
“We are relying on a finite input to fuel infinite growth projections,” Laure Boissat, Oceans Programme Manager at FAIRR, told me in an interview. “That’s not resilience—it’s a recipe for collapse.” …