Done By: Gay Wei En Colin (3I310)Gan Wei Liang (3I308)

Lin Junzhou (3O113)Choy Dian Shao (3O104)

Goh Shi En Nathaniel (3A109)Chan Wei Loong Bryan (3A106)

ContentsWhat is the Blue Revolution?Causes and Effects of the Blue RevolutionPros and ConsKeeping the Blue Revolution sustainableCase StudiesBibliography

What is the Blue Revolution?The term "blue revolution" refers to the

remarkable emergence of aquaculture as an important and highly productive agricultural activity. Aquaculture refers to all forms of active culturing of aquatic animals and plants, occurring in marine or fresh waters.

Like the Green Revolution of the 1960s, the Blue Revolution a decade later was supposed to increase global food production miraculously and stave off widespread hunger.

What is the Blue RevolutionProcesses involved in the Blue Revolution

The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and a variety of other international aid agencies pumped $200 million a year into aquaculture projects.

Fish farms were set up to raise fishes in controlled conditions.

Seaweeds and other aquatic plants were also put into farms and harvested.

Causes of the Blue RevolutionSimilar to the Green Revolution,

Increase in demand for seafood such as shrimpNeed to meet the demand of foodNeed for an increase in yield per unit areaIncreasing availability and advancement in

technology that can be applied to agricultureFish require less to grow (e.g one pound of

beef requires 7 pounds of grain while one pound of catfish requires 1.7 pounds of grain)

Effects of the Blue RevolutionThe production of pond-raised fish has

boomed. Nearly 12 per cent of the annual world harvest of fish (about 100 million tons) is now generated by fish farmers. From 1975 to 1985 world aquaculture output doubled.

Pros of the Blue RevolutionAs a result of the Blue Revolution, there has

been a significant increase in the amount of fish available which results in lower prices of fish.

The compelling attraction of intensive commercial aquaculture is that it generates export revenue that can be used to pay foreign debt.

The great variety of available species and methods of cultivation that can be adapted to fit local resources and local needs, whether for supplemental food, income, or jobs.

Cons of the Blue RevolutionPonds used for farming of animals are capital

intensive.The owners of the ponds tend to be

businesspeople and urban investors. Does not help poorer fish farmers from LEDCs

Increase in the commercial fish harvest will come at the expense of both wild fish stocks and the environment. Major disease and pollution problems are

already emerging in Japan, one of the pioneers of the Blue Revolution.

Cons of the Blue Revolution – Water PollutionFish waste and uneaten fish food accumulate in the

aquatic environment they are raised directly in (e.g the sea) and can contaminate water suppliesScottish researchers have estimated that between

300 and 1,000 kilograms of solid wastes are produced from each ton of fish raised - up to a ton of waste for each ton of fish.

Salmon farms in British Columbia on the Pacific coast of Canada were found to be producing the waste equivalent of a city of half a million people.

Wastes can cause eutrophication and algae blooms in the water, depleting oxygen and destroying aquatic ecosystems.

Cons of the Blue Revolution - DiseaseRaising large volumes of fish in controlled

environments also puts abnormal stress on the fish themselves, which increases vulnerability to outbreaks of disease both on the farm and in surrounding waters.

Fish biologists have identified more than 50 bacterial disease and other health problems - threats that are prompting aqua farmers to inject antibiotics, vaccines and chemicals to rid their fish of illness.

However, antibiotics, vaccines or chemicals can instead poison the fish and be transferred to consumers and harm them.

Cons of the Blue Revolution - LeakageEscapes of domesticated farmed fish into

rivers, lakes, and coastal areas have become a growing risk to already decimated stocks of wild fish.

Such escapes are not uncommon. In tropical freshwater systems, two-thirds of escaped fish species have become established. In Europe, 30 percent of all exotic aquatic species came originally from fish-farm escapes.

Cons of the Blue RevolutionTherefore, it can be seen that fish farming is

not sustainable as there are many disadvantages

So what is necessary to make fish farming sustainable?

Keeping the Blue Revolution SustainableStop the decimation of sensitive ecosystem

Assure no net loss of mangrove forests or other threatened environments

Use biofiltration to degrade fish wasteMaintain buffers between ponds, water sources,

and filtration systemsReverse net protein

Raise fish that require little or no fish-meal in their diets

Promote consumption of herbivorous species such as catfish, crayfish, tilapia, carp, and mollusks

Keeping the Blue Revolution SustainableIntegrate with Other Industries

Use locally available ingredients to make feed Raise hydroponic vegetables with fishApply fish-farm manure to agricultural land

Case Studies – Japan’s Blue Fin Tuna

Special fish to Japan High amounts of import In 1970, demand for tuna and toro rose

rapidly due to the sushi boom This caused fishermen to fish more It resulted in the depletion of natural stocks

especially in Europe, as it is a main exporter

Case Studies – Japan’s Blue Fin Tuna

Blue fin tuna farming started Fisheries in Atlantic and Pacific Ocean Japan also invested in fisheries in Strait of

Gibraltar

Case Studies – Japan’s Blue Fin Tuna

Farms combined technologies and funding from various countries

French purse seiners to retain tuna Spanish workers employed Cultural techniques developed in Australia Fishmeal from various European countries Computer technologies invented in Japan to

monitor tuna

Case Studies – Japan’s Blue Fin Tuna

Techniques are wrong → High Tuna Deaths Tuna is highly migratory

Favor different water temperatures Spawn area is also unknown

Natural stocks also deplete rapidly Insufficient stocks for future consumption

Case Studies - SingaporeThe AVA Marine Aquaculture Centre (MAC)

Located on St John’s IslandHelps to develop and use technology to

facilitate the development of commercial aquaculture in Singapore

Does both ornamental fish as well as foodfishAssists local aquaculture farms in terms of

sustaining the growth and development of their farms

Case Studies - SingaporeTechnology it has been developing

Large-scale commercial production of fry at all the hatchery stages

Selective breeding to improve brooder fish quality

Live fish larval food productionLive fish transportation methodsDeveloping optimal hatchery conditions and

good hatchery practicesHatchery fish health, feed and nutritional

requirements

Case Studies - SingaporeTechnology it has been developing

New/novel species - to study the potential of high-value fish species for hatchery technology development

Formulated larval feed supplements to supplement or replace live larval food

Fish biotechnology and other upstream molecular applications (e.g. genetic selection to facilitate fish breeding, fish vaccines and diagnostic kits)

Large-scale deep netcage farming technology

Case Studies - SingaporeSuccesses of the AVA MAC – the super sea

bassFry were twice as hardy as wild fryCould grow to reach market size of 500g 15%

faster than wild type400,000 of the specially bred fry were

transported to a farm in Riau to growRiau farm expected to produce up to 100

tonnes of sea bass a month – close to 7% of Singapore’s sea bass consumption.

Bibliographyhttp://olevelgeog.blogspot.com/2008/08/blue-revol

ution.htmlhttp://www.ava.gov.sg/

AgricultureFisheriesSector/FarmingInSingapore/Aquaculture/#3

http://www.ava.gov.sg/AgricultureFisheriesSector/TechServicesAndResearch/MarineAquacultureCentre/

http://www.newint.org/issue234/blue.htmhttp://mangroveactionproject.org/issues/shrimp-

farming/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-blue-revolution

Bibliographyhttp://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/News_Room/pdf/

The_Blue_Revolution_Drop_by_Drop_Gene_by_Gene.pdf

http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/thebluerevolution.pdf

http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/aqua-ch.htm

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