Several commercially important species of tropical marine fish are or have been cultured in the US, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Belize and the Bahamas. Some marine fish species whose aquaculture technologies have become or are becoming available are cobia (Rachycentron canadum), hamachi/kampachi (Seriola rivoliana, S. lalandi/S. dorsalis), pompanos (Trachinotus carolinus), snappers (Lutjanus guttatus, L. peru and L. campechanus), totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), barramundi (Lates calcarifer), snooks (Centropomus spp), mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) - among others. Modern hatcheries are capable of producing enough quantities of juveniles for stocking. Currently, steady supply of high-quality juveniles is still limited, but it is unlikely that it will remain an issue hampering industry expansion in the near future.
While land-based recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) and traditional flow-through ponds, raceways and tanks are viable options, any significant contribution to the 30-40 MMT of seafood required in the next few decades will have to be produced in the offshore environment - where stronger currents and greater depths increase the carrying capacity of the sites. Raising fish in exposed, high-energy areas of the open ocean require advanced technologies that are automated, complex, and expensive to establish and operate. Thus, fish produced offshore must be sold at high prices to compensate the high capital and operating costs required, limiting their demand in a highly competitive white fish market.
Offshore aquaculture is expanding, yet the commercial viability of operations in the Americas remains elusive. The infrastructure and logistics are in place as well as a strong market demand. Technology continues to expand rapidly. Tools for site assessment and selection and environmental monitoring have been established. However, as with any relatively new industry, hurdles must be overcome before commercial viability can be secured. Some issues such as optimizing genetics, nutrition, and diseases control are inherent to all forms of aquaculture - whereas stocking, feeding, chemical treatments, net cleaning, predator avoidance, escapements, biomass estimates and crop management, mortalities collection and harvesting are exacerbated in offshore systems. We work with the industry to identify, address and resolve challenges limiting the technological and commercial viability of offshore aquaculture. These are presented and discussed along with potential solutions to assist producers and operators to overcome tethered drawbacks.