When Florida families settle down to enjoy a seafood dinner they may not realize the main dish wasn’t freshly caught in the nearby Gulf of Mexico, but rather farmed off the coast of Panama. The process of farming seafood in the ocean, known as mariculture, is a growing trend yet little is known about the trajectories of its development. That’s why a team of Florida State University researchers set out to shed some light on the industry.
FSU postdoctoral researcher Rebecca Gentry, doctoral student Elizabeth Bess Ruff and Assistant Professor of Geography Sarah Lester examined more than 50 years of data from 1950 to 2016 from more than 100 countries around the world. Their study, published in Nature Sustainability , outlined several consistent patterns of mariculture taking place globally.
“Aquaculture is an increasingly important component of global food production,” Gentry said. “Therefore, understanding patterns of development has important implications for managing our changing global food systems and ensuring economic development, food security and environmental sustainability.”
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