Aquaculture Anarchy: How Chemical and Antibiotic Abuse in Bangladesh Could Limit Global Food Security.

/ February 20, 2024 / Comments Off on Aquaculture Anarchy: How Chemical and Antibiotic Abuse in Bangladesh Could Limit Global Food Security. / Uncategorized

by Will Burke

Figure 1: Ring net offshore aquaculture. Image: Asc1733, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

A decade ago aquaculture – fish and aquatic plant farming [1] – surpassed capture as the primary source of global seafood [2] with the production rate now exceeding 110 million tonnes per year [3]. Aquaculture is therefore becoming increasingly important for both global food security [4] and the economies of several nations [5-7]. This growing reliance on aquaculture has intensified research in several areas including microplastics [8], escape [9], and production improvements [10], however, a recent paper from the Sylhet Agricultural University Bangladesh has considered the prevalence of industry substances alongside their impacts on not only fish but farmers, consumers, and the environment too [11].

The study focused on Narsingdi, Bangladesh given the nation’s aquaculture efforts – Bangladesh ranks as the world’s 5th aquaculture producer by ton [3], and exports to over 50 countries [12], giving the quality of their fish international importance – alongside limited existing research on the Narsingdi district [11]. The study identified various substances used in Narsingdi aquaculture, and alarmingly haphazard antimicrobial and chemical use which could negatively impact future aquaculture and human health [11].

The potential implications for future aquaculture and the wider environment were discussed, with the risk of fish developing antibiotic resistance through antibiotic misuse carefully considered [11]. In these cases, bacteria can becomes resistant to treatment, increasing fish vulnerability to illness [13, 14], reducing yields [15] which could increase prices and lower food security through reduced economic access. The inappropriate use of chemicals due to limited understanding, poor regulation, and incorrect application [11] is also a cause for concern as some contribute to increased mortality for non – target species –  such as crustaceans [16] – which are vital to food chain stability [17], while others – like chlorine [11] – deal significant damage to the local environment through soil pollution [18], reducing agricultural opportunities [19], further limiting food security.

The human implications of the findings were also considered by linking aquaculture substances to potential health complications [11]. It was found that some substances remain in the food system via exposure pathways, potentially impacting farmers, handlers, and consumers [11]. Through a literature review, specific impacts were explored. Antimicrobial agents were linked to human antibiotic resistance, potentially reducing treatment efficacy, disinfectants to cancer, and pesticides to heart failure, cancer, and hypertension [11]. Alongside general well-being impacts, poor health can also reduce productivity [20], potentially further reducing food security through lower aquaculture outputs.

Aquaculture is increasingly important to food security, from the local [21] to the global [4, 12] scale. It must however pivot to more sustainable approaches – as spearheaded by nations like China through their increasing use of organic aquaculture [22], which offers reduced pesticide and antibiotic use compared to current approaches [23]  – maintaining productivity without risking future aquaculture efforts or the health of people and places throughout the global food system.

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