Industrial sea bass and sea bream farming has taken over large parts of the Mediterranean Sea, wreaking ecological harm and depriving local fishers and communities of food security and livelihood, warns a new report by FoodRise. 

The advocacy group unveiled Ocean Takeover at the United Nations Ocean Conference, detailing the scale of food injustice, waste, and pollution caused by intensive fish farms, stretching from Türkiye in the East to the Canary Islands in the West.

FoodRise zooms in on Greece in the report, wher fish farming has increased at an “alarming” rate. The organization estimates that the country is the leading producer of sea bass and sea bream in the EU and has recorded a 141% increase in these species since the turn of the century.

The report also highlights that the EU injects millions into unsustainable fish farming with government subsidies, and around all of the sea bass and sea bream consumed in Europe are farmed.

“The EU is actively promoting the production of farmed sea bass and sea bream in the Mediterranean and pumping millions of euros into the industry. It must avoid investing in high-trophic aquaculture, which is an ecologically destructive system fuelling food insecurity and offering no socioeconomic benefit in the countries wher fish farming is taking place,” Pieter Roden, aquaculture advocacy officer, FoodRise, tells Food Ingredients First.

The organization notes that when drafting the report, applications were open in Greece for over €71 million (US$82 million) in state subsidy for new or existing aquaculture businesses.

Africa pays

While the report estimates that Italy, Spain, and France are the biggest importers of farmed fish, the practice’s implications touch many beyond the EU.

“Communities that are local to sea bass and sea bream farms are seeing ecosystems disrupted, waterways polluted, and vital economic activities such as tourism put at risk,” says Roden.

“The progressive decline of Posidonia oceanica, commonly known as Neptune grass — an endemic seagrass found exclusively along the coastlines of the Mediterranean Sea — is emblematic of the damage intensive fish farming is wreaking in the region.”

Northwest African fishers and communities are seeing their catches shrink, and large wild fish populations are diverted to feed the industrial farms.

This is due to sea bass and sea bream species’ appetite for wild fish, which they are fed in the form of fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO).

According to the report, regions known for producing FMFO, including West Africa, are observing rapid declines in local fish populations, affecting diets and livelihoods.

It also claims that nearly one million people in West and Southern Africa could consume 200 g of fish per week, with the wild fish currently being turned into fish oil for industrial aquaculture in Greece.

“What we are witnessing is nothing less than the plundering of fishery resources, the systematic exploitation of marine resources that should be feeding African communities. The figures are staggering. Our artisanal fishermen are being driven out of their own waters by these destructive industries,” Dr. Aliou Ba, oceans campaign lead at Greenpeace Africa, tells Food Ingredients First.

“These are the same small pelagic fish that have fed West African communities for generations. When 90% of processed fish are perfectly edible and rich in nutrients that our communities desperately need, we are talking about nothing less than the theft of food security itself.”

“Colonialism in purest form”

Fisheries and aquaculture are increasingly seen as major parts of the food security and nutrition solution. The UN FAO estimates that by 2030, aquatic food production will increase by a further 15%, and this growth will likely come primarily from aquaculture.

However, experts believe that modern industrial aquaculture is reproducing the centuries-old extractive systems that benefit the Global North while impoverishing the South.

“This is environmental colonialism in its purest form. European consumers enjoy cheap farmed fish while African communities pay the price with depleted waters and empty plates,” asserts Ba.

“The cruel irony is that this system actually reduces global food security. The report shows that if we ate wild fish directly instead of feeding them to farmed sea bass and sea bream, we could feed more than a quarter of the world’s population. But that doesn’t generate the same profits for European aquaculture companies.”

“We have seen the same pattern of resource extraction rampant in Africa for centuries: raw materials are shipped north, while the environmental and social costs remain ours to bear. We cannot solve the destruction of the oceans by further destroying the oceans.”

Seafood labeling, redirecting EU funds

The advocates call for immediate policy changes to protect seagrass and the well-being of coastal communities.

“Our position is clear. We call for a moratorium on all sea bass and sea bream farming in the Mediterranean and a gradual phasing out of existing farms,” says Roden.

He also draws attention to current sustainability standards, which allow sea bass or sea bream to qualify for sustainability labels despite their reliance on wild fish.

He cites a two-year investigation conducted by DeSmog and co-published with The Guardian, revealing that at least five major UK supermarkets have sold sea bass or sea bream grown by one of Turkey’s largest fish farmers, which sources FMFO made from small Senegalese fish.

All this supply was labeled “responsibly sourced” or “responsibly farmed” based on Aquaculture Stewardship Council certification and other certifying bodies.

“We do not believe that farmed fish fed using whole wild-caught fish should be certified as sustainable. The ASC standard [commonly considered stringent] is a poor sustainability measurement as it allows whole wild-caught fish in its feed,” Roden asserts.

Additionally, Ba urges the redirection of EU funds toward supporting small-scale fishers in Africa and member states and shifting from corporate interests to local food security.

“European countries must stop subsidizing intensive fishing. Every euro spent supporting this industry is taken away from African food security. These subsidies should be redirected to small-scale and sustainable fishing in Europe and Africa.”

“We also need binding regulations prioritizing local food security over export profits. Finally, the use of fresh or edible fish in the production of fishmeal must be banned.”