The New Nation - Internet Edition

Farming fish for the future

From Asia to North America, people are eating more seafood, either because it's the most affordable form of protein (as in many poorer nations) or because it's the latest health food trend (as in many wealthy nations). But as the demand for fish rises, populations of both marine and freshwater species are being overexploited, resulting in stagnant or declining catches from many wild fisheries.

As a result, seafood is shifting from being the last wild ingredient in our diet to being a highly farmed commodity. Farmed seafood, or aquaculture, now provides 42 percent of the world's seafood supply and is on target to exceed half in the next decade. Fish farms are taking up more space on land and at sea, as farmers expand into new streams, bays, and oceans. Fish farming itself has morphed from a small-scale, artisanal pursuit into a large-scale science, with innovations in feed technology, cage design, and fish breeding.

Farmed seafood has certain advantages over wild fish in meeting modern demand. For a global marketplace that demands increasingly predictable products-uniform-sized fillets available year-round, free of the vagaries of weather or open-ocean fishing-fish farming delivers this predictability. Farms are also becoming more productive, raising fish at a lower cost and expanding the potential market.

Yet even as we depend more on farmed fish, several crises loom that may jeopardize future expansion of this industry. These include a growing scarcity of fish feed and rising concern about the social and ecological fallout from industrial aquaculture. Poorly run fish farms can generate coastal pollution in the form of excess feed and manure, and escaped fish and disease originating on farms can devastate wild fisheries. From salmon farms in Chile to tilapia farms in China, a narrowing base of genetic diversity means that farms will be increasingly susceptible to disease and other stresses, a wellknown pattern in agriculture that may play out in aquaculture.

But not all fish farming is created equal. Still today,most aquaculture is focused on seaweeds, shellfish, and other species that are low on the food chain, such as carp and tilapia. For much of the world, particularly the developing world, fish farming isn't so much about profit as about having a steady supply of seafood to eat.Most fish farms are small in scale, rely on few inputs, and may be closely integrated with crop or livestock production. From the Philippines to Bangladesh to the southern United States, small-scale fish farmers often have higher and more stable incomes than nearby crop farmers.

Yet the greatest growth in fish farming today is occurring at the other end of the spectrum: large farms raising high-value, predatory fish such as salmon, striped bass, tuna, and shrimp. Raising these species is an exercise in "reducing" fish to produce fish-that is, in turning certain fish, usually smaller species such as anchovy, herring, capelin, and whiting, into feed for other, typically larger, species. Increasingly, we are fishing down the ocean chain so we can move up the fish-farming chain.

Despite ongoing improvements in feed ingredients and technologies, the rapid growth in fish farming in recent decades has effectively outweighed any gains in feeding efficiency. According to most estimates,modern fish farming is now a net drain on the world's seafood supply. The global appetite for farmed fish is putting unsustainable strain on the world's food resources.

As farmers raise more predatory species, a focus on well-designed fish farms will make a critical difference. To avert the looming feed crisis and to take pressure off perfectly edible wild fish, farmers could wean themselves off fishbased feed. And some innovative fish farmers are beginning to redesign their farms to function more like healthy aquatic ecosystems. Farms with high levels of integration can greatly reduce water pollution and disease levels. They can be a cost-effective way to recycle, clean, and store water supplies. They can even help rebuild wetlands and restock wild fisheries.

Properly guided, the explosive growth in fish farming may in fact be the most hopeful trend in the world food system. Compared to raising cows, pigs, or even chicken, aquaculture is remarkably efficient in its use of feed and water. And farmed fish are still generally lower on the food chain and less resource-intensive than the big predatory fish we catch in the seas. Rather than contributing to environmental degradation, fish farming can be a critical way to add to the global diet.

Yet there is no guarantee that aquaculture will move wholesale in a "greener" direction. Supportive government policies and a shift in consumer tastes will be essential to push farmers toward raising more-efficient species, such as carp, catfish, and shellfish. The seafood and aquaculture industries must also play a significant role. So far, producers and conservation groups have only begun discussing standards for farmed fish, despite a proliferation of ecolabels for wild seafood and other agricultural products. Without such standards, even concerned seafood eaters won't be able to push the world's fish farms in the right direction.

(Source: Worldwatch Institute)

Regional journals can boost science capacity

Wieland Gevers

Building significant and sustainable science capacity in developing countries is an agenda that enjoys wide support. But how best to achieve it is still open to debate.

Part of the answer lies in promoting 'regional journals' - scholarly journals published in, and containing many original papers of regional interest, but with editorial and peer review practices equivalent to high-impact journals in developed countries. These are indispensable components of truly globalised scholarship, and cost-effective catalysts for contributions from hard-pressed scientists and scholars in developing countries.

In the highly profitable Western system of commercial journal publishing (now fighting to contain the contagion of open access), hard-working authors are often described as offering their manuscripts for free, quality-assuring other scientists' work without compensation, and then paying heavily to read published work through costly subscriptions, outrageous downloading fees and out-of-control library budgets.

But these criticisms do not recognise the benefits scientists and scholars derive from being editors, peer reviewers, and contributors. Researchers are constantly alerted to new ideas and findings, interesting citations, methodological insights, and improved conceptual thinking arising from close reading of others' work.

Participating in the system often brings extensive conference and workshop opportunities, sharing of special materials, and exchanges of students and post-docs. It is also a 'must' for career advancement - you 'publish-or-perish'.

Yet these benefits largely fail to reach scientists in the developing world. The current journal-publishing model is dominated by the Thomson Scientific indexing system, which provides a single, widely available and multidisciplinary index of papers published in journals considered to be scientifically important

In choosing which journals to index, the system assumes that 20 per cent of journals - the biggest, best established and most respected - contain 80 per cent of the real value of scientific output.

This is a self-fulfilling principle, as the design ensures that the so-called 'core literature' increases its reputational hold, while the rest is increasingly marginalized. It is a system where the 'haves' (mostly in the North) get more and more, and the 'have-nots' (in the South) get less and less of the action.

Still, some efforts have been made to work within the system. The economically exuberant 'tigers' of South Asia, such as China and Korea, have tried to become big players in 'visible' world scholarship by investing heavily in science, and creating strong pressures to publish work in 'high-impact' Western journals.

In principle, there is nothing wrong with this approach, although quantity has so far worryingly exceeded quality (at least when measured in terms of the frequency with which papers are quoted by other researchers, the standard metric of citation analysis).

Some highly regarded scientists from developing countries also occupy editorial positions on 'international' journals, but they are few and far between.

And some multinational publishers have bought a few journals published in developing countries to include in their bundles of international journals - with pressure to gain entry to the Thomson Scientific indexes if not already there, a sign that their approach is embedded within the dominant Thomson Scientific paradigm.

But these efforts are far from bringing the important benefits of journal publishing to the South on a large scale. Nor do they recognise the value of regional journal systems, which, through their detailed regional focus, are much richer than the tiny fraction of information lucky enough to make it into the core literature.

Systematic interventions are needed to create a less skewed and self-perpetuating scholarly literature system - one where the downward spiral of 'have-nots' can be reversed in sustainable ways on a regional level.

In 2006, the Academy of Science of South Africa published a comprehensive study of about 250 South African journals (20-24 of them indexed by Thomson Scientific) accredited by the local Department of Education as "valid research outputs." This study strongly supported building up an indigenous system of high-quality, mostly open access, scholarly journals.

The academy now has a scholarly publishing programme with several sub-projects, including consensus peer review by academy-appointed panels of groups of national disciplinary journals (aimed at making recommendations on their optimal configuration in the future), a code of best practice, a forum of scholarly editors and a follow-up academy study review of book publishing in and from the country.

The intention is to build a national platform for journal publishing that: ensures good practice, attracts quality papers from the region and elsewhere, mobilises the support of government and research institutions, harnesses local skills and reaps the benefits of publishing journals that can generate an international reputation.

In Brazil, the publically funded SciELO organisation has established a quality- controlled regional journal system that represents a fully indexed, open access publishing platform for just under 200 journals, out of more than a thousand published in the country. This system - already copied by several other Latin American nations - has allowed citation indexing within a regional journal context, and revealed at least two active clusters of journals, one 'international' and one 'regional'.

There are currently moves afoot to link Thomson Scientific's indexed databases (enlarged to include more good journals from the developing world) to those of SciELO and other evolving regional models. That would mean a much richer, more diversified and inclusive global scholarly system could be developed cooperatively - something to be warmly welcomed.

(Wieland Gevers was, until recently, the executive officer of the Academy of Science of South Africa, and is the chair of its Committee on Scholarly Publishing.)

India approves biofuel rise

T. V. Padma

India has approved a national biofuel policy that aims to raise the proportion of biofuels from five to 20 per cent in petrol and diesel fuels over the coming decade, using non-edible plant sources.

The Indian government approved the policy last week (11 September). The policy states that by 2017, transport fuels in India need to contain 20 per cent biofuel.

Two main types of biofuels are envisaged: alcohol from plant wastes, chiefly sugarcane molasses, and biodiesel - oil produced from non-edible oilseed crops such as jatropha curcas, which can be blended with diesel.

The policy supports increasing biodiesel plantations on community, government-owned and forest wastelands, but not on fertile, irrigated lands. The government estimates 13.4 million hectares of barren land are available for jatropha cultivation, which could potentially yield 15 million tonnes of oil each year.

The policy also details incentives for growers of biofuel crops: removing taxes and duties on biodiesel, setting a minimum 'support' price for buying biodiesel oilseeds from growers and a minimum purchase price of bio-ethanol from oil marketing companies. These should ensure adequate returns to both crop growers and oil makers. India imports over 70 per cent of its petroleum and the Indian Planning Commission estimates that, by 2017, the country's demand for petrol will rise to 16.40 million tonnes. But biofuels will only substitute a little for fossil fuel use, yet lock huge land areas for crop cultivation, says Anumita Roychowdhury, associate director for research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, a Delhi-based nongovernmental organisation.

Instead of giving subsidies for biofuel production, the Indian government should invest in policies that reduce overall demand for fuels, such as encouraging use of public transport and restraining use of personal vehicles, Roychowdhury told SciDev.Net.

The Indian Express reported (16 September) on the experiences of Chhattisgarh state, where 400 million Jatropha saplings were planted on more than 155,000 hectares of fallow land in the last three years. However, until now, there has been no reported data on survival of saplings or seed production. Farmers in many areas are in a fix as the trees have not yet borne fruits, while in places where they have, various departments and local agencies, are waiting for guidelines on collection and sale of seeds.

A 2006 analysis by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) concluded that India cannot rely on sugarcane molasses as a reliable feedstock for alcohol, given the crop's dependence on monsoon and vagaries of the domestic sugar industry. Similarly, difficulties in procuring oilseeds and lack of infrastructure could obstruct substantial biodiesel production by 2011-12.

UNCTAD suggested that India might have to import both bio-ethanol and biodiesel to meet its targets.

Mexico to host World Environment Day

Mexico, a country at the crossroads of the Green Economy and one increasingly in the centre of regional and global affairs will host the international 2009 World Environment Day celebrations.

The theme chosen by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which coordinates the day on 5 June on behalf of the UN system and the peoples of the world, will be 'Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change'. It reflects the urgency for nations to agree on a new agreement at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen some 180 days later in the year, and the links with overcoming poverty and improved management of forests.

The news that Mexico has been chosen to host World Environment Day (WED) 2009 was announced jointly by President Felipe Calderón and Achim Steiner, UNEP's Executive Director at a press conference in Mexico City.

The decision in part reflects the growing practical and political role of the Latin American country in the fight against climate change, including its growing participation in the carbon markets.

Mexico is also a leading partner in UNEP's Billion Tree Campaign. The country, with the support of its President and people, has spearheaded the pledging and planting of some 25 per cent of the trees under the campaign.

UNEP has now launched a new and more ambitious phase-the Seven Billion Tree Campaign.

This aims to see more than one new tree planted for every person alive by the Copenhagen meeting as one empowering symbol of the global publics' desire for action by their political leaders on the greatest challenge for this generation. President Calderón said:"It is great news that today the UN, through Achim Steiner, has announced that Mexico will be the international seat for World Environment Day next 5 june here in our beloved country".

He said he hoped WED would not only be a time of reflection on the great challenges facing humanity including climate change, but an event linked with "a lot of action and committment".

"Undoubtedly this decision further underlines Mexico's determination to manage natural resources and deal with the most demanding challenge of the 21st century-climate change," said President Calderón.

Mr Steiner, who is also a UN Under-Secretary General, said: "I am delighted that the President and the people of Mexico will be the hosts of WED only some 180 days before governments meet in Copenhagen before the crucial UN climate convention meeting".

"Mexico is at the cross-roads of the Green Economy politically, physically and practically. Firstly it still has many challenges, from high air pollution in cities and dependence on fossil fuels to land degradation and the need to fight poverty. But Mexico is also emerging as one among a group of developing economies who are bringing much needed leadership to the need for a new, comprehensive and decisive climate treaty," he said. Mr Steiner(see notes to editors on new data) said that in addition Mexico was seizing the opportunities of the carbon markets and had, in just four short years, become second only to Brazil in terms of wind, solar, biogas and other Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in the region. "Thirdly Mexico's ambitions in terms of combating climate change under its new Special programme-ambitions that include renewable energy to using forests and other nature-based assets as carbon sinks-will send a clear message to countries in the region and the world that Mexico means to be part of the solution," he noted. "Finally, Mexico is set to be one of the big economies of the 21st century along with nations like China and India. Thus its ability to encourage the greening of the economy of neighboring nations-both North and South of its borders-will be significant," he noted. Mexico, which accounts for around 1.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, is demonstrating its commitment to climate change on several fronts.

Mexico was praised by Non Governmental Organizations at the recent climate convention talks in Accra, Ghana for being among a group of countries willing to build bridges between the North and the South.

UNEP is looking forward to the shortly-to-be published Special Programme on Climate Change covering 2008-2012.

It is likely to set ambitious goals for the Mexican economy from boosting the climate-friendliness of 'hard' infrastructure via energy efficiency and an increase in renewables to boosting the carbon management of Mexico's 'soft' infrastructure including its forests and soils.

Close to 30 per cent of the projects are renewables which includes wind, solar, biogas and biomass. Biogas represents 70 per cent of Mexico's CDM renewables-here the methane from wastes is harvested to generate electricity rather than flared.

The Risoe Centre stresses that, given Mexico's relatively high level of industrialization, it has huge opportunities in terms of energy efficiency which remain to be exploited. If all its CDM projects to date are registered, then Mexico could generate over 14 million Certified Emission Reduction (CERS) annually versus a world total of 529 million.

Risoe estimates that, by 2012 there could be a total of 1,600 Latin American and Caribbean CDM projects in the pipeline or registered-a more than doubling.

It is estimated that 260 million CERs could be generated equaling $3.9 billion with a value per CER of $15 a tonne of C02.

The aim is to reach the total capacity of 2,500,000 cubic metres of installed SWH systems in Mexico by the end of 2011.

It also aims to support continuing sustainable growth of the market beyond the project's life in order to reach the target to 23.5 million cubic metres of installed capacity by 2020. This has been estimated to correspond to an estimated cumulative greenhouse gas reduction potential of over 27 million tons of CO2 by 2020.

China, the world leader in solar water heaters, has an installed solar water heater capacity of around 100 million cubic metres million and has created 600,000 green jobs. Thus, by 2020, Mexico might have the potential to generate jobs for some 150,000 people in this sector as a result of the new project. World Environment Day was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Another resolution, adopted by the General Assembly the same day, led to the creation of UNEP. WED is commemorated each year on 5 June in a different city. It is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.

The day's agenda is to give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future. World Environment Day is also a popular event with colourful activities such as street rallies, bicycle parades, green concerts, essay and poster competitions in schools, tree planting, as well as recycling and cleaning-up campaigns.

On that particular day, heads of State, Prime Ministers and Ministers of Environment deliver statements and commit themselves to care for the Earth. Pledges are made which lead to the establishment of permanent governmental structures dealing with environmental management. It also provides an opportunity to sign or ratify international environmental conventions.

Last year the main global host was New Zealand and the theme was 'Kick the C02 Habit-Towards a Low Carbon Economy'.

(Source: Unep)