Increasing agriculture and fisheries production to meet consumer needs negatively impacts climate, land use, freshwater resources, and biodiversity. According to a recently-published opinion article in PLOS Biology, this is why the world needs to shift the focus of marine aquaculture down the food chain to algae to produce nutritional food while cutting the current food system’s ecological footprint.

The article by Charles H. Greene at University of Washington, Friday Harbor, Washington, US and Celina M. Scott-Buechler at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, US, makes a case for increased investment in algae aquaculture systems for future food. 

Increasing agriculture and fisheries production to meet consumer needs negatively impacts climate, land use, freshwater resources, and biodiversity.  

Additionally, a marine microalgae-based aquaculture industry would not require arable land and freshwater or pollute freshwater and marine ecosystems through fertilizer runoff. 

The article does not address the potential for a new algae-based aquaculture industry to be culturally responsive, how large-scale microalgae production would affect local foodways, or how algae tastes.

Challenging incumbent industries
The financial headwinds faced by a new marine microalgae-based aquaculture industry will be stiff because it must challenge incumbent industries for market share before its technologies are completely mature and it can achieve the full benefits of scale, note the authors. 

“Financial investments and market incentives provided by state and federal governments can help reduce this green premium until the playing field is level,” they say. 

“The future role of algae-based solutions in achieving global food security and environmental sustainability will depend on the actions taken by governments today.”

Filling the nutrition gap
“Agriculture provides the backbone of today’s global food production system; however, its potential to meet the world’s nutritional demands by 2050 is limited. Marine microalgae can help fill the projected nutritional gap while simultaneously improving overall environmental sustainability and ocean health,” adds Greene.