Compassion in World Farming and Foodrise have today (30 September) gathered policymakers, experts, and campaigners in the European Parliament to discuss the hidden costs of carnivorous aquaculture and its impacts on ocean ecosystems, fish welfare, and food security.

The event “Carnivorous Aquaculture: Eating up the Ocean, Threatening Food Security” was organised to coincide with Ocean Week and was hosted by MEP Emma Fourreau. It explored how the rapid expansion of carnivorous fish farming – in particular tuna and salmon production – heavily relies on wild-caught fish for feed. On top of condemning species unsuitable for farming to the cruelty of intensive aquaculture, this puts additional pressure on already stressed marine ecosystems and exacerbates food insecurity, argue the organisations.

The documentary Seabass INC , which reveals environmental destruction and community resistance linked to seabass farming in Spain, premiered at the event, alongside the presentation of a new report on tuna farming and a briefing on the impact of extractive aquaculture on the EU’s wild fish populations.

Compassion’s report “Atlantic bluefin tuna: caught, caged, and under threat” reveals that:

tuna farming is rapidly expanding, with warning signs that wild populations could once again become at risk;
this practice is unsustainable and highly inefficient, presenting severe animal welfare and food security risks;
there is a need for an immediate moratorium on new or expanded Atlantic bluefin tuna farms.

Foodrise’s new research exposes that:

Nearly one-fifth (17%) of EU fishery landings are converted into fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO), with the majority of the EU’s FMFO exports supplying the salmon aquaculture industry in Norway and Scotland;
EU fish exported to feed Norwegian and Scottish salmon in the form of FMFO return to the EU as salmon imports with lower nutritional value than the wild fish used as feed;
Denmark is by far the largest producer of FMFO by volume, followed by Finland, Estonia, and Sweden. Feed fish landings accounted for over two-thirds (68%) of Denmark’s overall landings, and over three-quarters (81%) of Finland’s in 2024/.

With the Vision 2040 for Fisheries and Aquaculture expected to be published today, the NGOs believe this is a crucial moment to identify and promote truly sustainable practices within the aquaculture sector while banning those that harm animals, people, and the planet.

French MEP Emma Fourreau said:

The European Union must stop contributing to the overexploitation of West Africa’s aquatic resources through its market for fishmeal and fish oil. Beyond the environmental impacts and consequences for animal welfare of such activities, boosting the growth of carnivorous aquaculture in Europe is the wrong answer to food security. Small pelagic fish, essential to local food systems and economies, are increasingly turned into fishmeal and fish oil to feed farmed fish and supply industrial feed chains linked to European aquaculture, depriving communities of a vital source of protein and income. This is not food security. This is not 'sustainable blue economy'. This is theft. It is an economic model based on the thoughtless extraction of resources, a form of food imperialism.

Dr Elena Lara, Senior Research and Policy Advisor at Compassion in World Farming, said:

Fish are suffering in cruel underwater cages, coastal communities in the Global South are deprived of food and livelihoods, and oceans are left eerily empty - these are the real-life consequences of farming carnivorous fish.

If the EU is serious about making aquaculture sustainable over the next decade, the Vision 2040 for Fisheries and Aquaculture cannot be considered a success unless it stops the expansion of this cruel and extractive practice.

Natasha Hurley, Deputy Director at Foodrise, said:

EU decisionmakers have a blind spot when it comes to acknowledging fish farming’s impact on European fisheries. The rise of extractive aquaculture is taking a huge toll on communities and wild fish populations across Europe.

The multiple threats to EU fisheries are well documented but aquaculture has largely remained in the shadows until now. It’s outrageous that precious species such as herring and sprat are being fished out of the sea to fuel the growth of salmon farming, a sector dominated by multinational corporations. That’s why we’re calling on the EU to stop providing financial support to extractive aquaculture and feed fisheries, prioritising instead the development of low-impact fisheries and aquaculture systems.

Carnivorous aquaculture found to harm fish, oceans, and food security