The investment case for aquaculture innovation
Drivers and growth
Global aquaculture has experienced sustained growth over the last few decades and two strong drivers are likely to support this upward trend: Increasing population growth and protein consumption per capita. These combined with the largely overfished oceans results in an ongoing need for more protein. Due to the superior feed utilisation of aquatic species, aquaculture is in a great position to fill the increasing demand for protein.

Global production, FAO, 2015 (million tonnes)
9.8bn
UN, 2017
3%
PWC, 2015 (Real-term GDP)
1.1Kg
Challenges and impact
Aquaculture’s past growth has resulted in challenges: Increasing farming intensification may result in fish health problems and can impact the farm environment. Higher fish feed demand increases the pressure on natural resources such as fish for fish meal production or land for soybean production. Commodity trading of seafood can result in social challenges.
1.8Kg
OECD-FAO, 2015
$160bn
gate value
FAO, 2016
3.9%
Marketline, 2017

No. of aquaculture-related patent submissions
Innovation and commercialisation
There is a clear need for innovations that reduce operational cost and risk for farmers, while providing sustainable growth for the industry. In recent years a growing interest in aquaculture resulted in more R&D effort, both private and public. The impact of these innovations will depend on the ability to successfully commercialise them over the coming years.
Opportunities for investment
Farm management
Automation
Predictive analytics
Interconnected systems
Real-time monitoring
Feeding optimisation
Biomass estimation
Feeding systems
Remotely operated vehicles
Water quality management
Precision tech
New software
Smart equipment
New hardware
Integrated systems
Novel feed ingredients
Alternative plant proteins
Alternative insect proteins
Alternative algal proteins
Alternative microbial proteins
Waste-to-feed
New additives
Raw material processing
Biology
New species
Genetic robustness
Growth and feed optimisation
Monosex populations
Health management
New vaccines
Antibiotic replacements
Nutritional optimisation
New drugs
New diagnostic tools
Prebiotics
Prevention systems
New production systems
Land-based
Offshore
Closed containment at sea
Multitrophic farming