Land based agriculture has reached it's sustainable limit, it relies on expensive fertilizers that are derived from petroleum, most farmland has been overused by centuries of cultivation, and to make matters worse, we are now competing with machines for food, by allowing our political leaders to court favor by  promoting the use of corn to ferment into ethanol. 

The Solution is Abundance

Due to irresponsible and reckless over-fishing in the past, most species of edible fish and crustaceans have become scarce. What was once an abundant supply of Haddock, Groupie, Bonito and other deep sea varieties are now almost at the point of extinction.   And yet there is always an adequate and affordable supply of Salmon, Tilapia, Shrimp and Flounder.  These are species which can be commercially farmed in estuaries or on-shore aquaculture cages under our current private property system . Under the capitalist system, money is invested only in those activities which return a profit to the investors.  Those who sow must also reap, nothing else seems possible if money is to be made. 

Open Sea fish farming is a departure from the private property paradigm, since it does not involve fish cages or nets to corral the fish so that they can be harvested by the owner. There is a disconnect between those who sow (in this case, hatch the fish fry) and those who harvest (the commercial fisheries).  We have never been able to coordinate a feedback of money from consumers to producers that involves a break in the supply chain.   This is a problem that can readily be solved, if we agree on creating an international cybernetic system that channels money from the consumers in the developed world to the open sea fish hatchers in compensation for their labor.

Open sea fish farming does not damage the ocean's ecological system, in fact it can restore it to it's viable and balanced state, much in the same way that some lakes in are re-stocked with Bass and other species for sports fishermen today.   We have already destroyed the ecological  balance in the Oceans, now we must find ways to restore it, open sea farming a viable alternative solution to the global food crisis, and it can become a source of funding for projects in marine ecology.  Farming the open oceans will enable the ocean's themselves to provide the eco-system that supports the fish in the same way it has done for millions of years, until our 20th century  industrial fishing arrived with drag netting and fast boats. 

Floating Fish Hatcheries

We need to create floating fish hatcheries, where fish fry are grown from eggs to a viable size and weight, and then released to the open ocean. Other fishermen would harvest them, perhaps years later, at full maturity, recycling some spawning females back to the floating breeding farms.  The floating fish hatcheries could be obsolete single hull oil tankers of the type now being torn down for scarp metal.  The waste from the hatcheries would be contained to the ship itself, to be disposed of in the best manner possible, under UN/WFP and international regulations.  In time, with genetic selection and improvements in the diet of the hatchlings, most endangered marine species would again return to be the viable and inexpensive source of food for the World they once were.

FAO or UN/WFP Grants

The floating fish hatcheries would be financed at first by seed capital from the FAO or the UN/WFP, with contributions from member countries according to their means.  No attempt should be made to collect funds from artisan fishermen, only the consumers from the developed world should be required to recycle money back to the floating fish hatcheries.  After the initial investment, the fish hatcheries could be funded by an excise fee that is collected at the point of sale in developing countries, i.e. at the supermarket checkout POS.  This is a case of a broken supply chain, because there is no product that is directly bought and sold from one link in the chain to the next.  Are we going hungry because we can not solve this relatively simple problem in international socialist finance?

Ideal Open Seas

If we look at the map of the World, we can see an almost perfect set of  oceans near populated coasts that would be ideal for large scale ocean farming.  The gulf of Mexico, for example, could become a gigantic fish farm, perhaps breeding Red Snapper and other local species to the point of abundance.  The Caribbean Sea could be farmed for Yellow-fin Tuna, which was once abundant there.  

The Mediterranean Sea is perfect as an open sea farm.  The entire Black Sea could be turned into a fish hatchery, allowing the grown fish to swim toward  the Mediterranean sea via the Bosporus Straight.   Other ideal locations would be the South China Sea off the coast of  Vietnam,  the Sea of Oshtock that lies between Russia and Japan, and the Bering Sea north of the Aleutians in Alaska.

Feed Stocks

According to some experts, there is a 27% waste factor in the food that we consume in the developed world. This "throwaway" food is the waste from restaurants and fast food outlets, as well as the food that we irresponsibly throw away because it has spoiled in our refrigerators or pantries.  This excess food can be recycled into fish food and used to breed the fry at the floating fish hatcheries, or it can be processed into fish food for release in the open oceans if needed.  All of the excess food from the EU could well be recycled into fish food for the Mediterranean sea, all of the excess food from the North American Continent would far exceed the needs of the fish hatcheries on the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean Sea. 

While species specific fish food may be required to feed hatchlings to the point of being viable for release onto the open oceans, it remains to be seen whether or not additional food supplies must be made available to feed the vastly increased amounts of fish that would result in open sea farming. The processed fish food could be modified with antibiotics or hormones to enhance the quality and promote better harvests, if done under international FAO regulations.

The recycled food can be collected from homes in the developed world in frozen plastic containers that would be left out at the curbside for a frozen food pickup, perhaps once per week for private homes, and once daily for restaurants and fast food outlets.  The generic containers would be returned by the food pickup service the next time around.

Meditation

We can feed the world if we change our economic paradigm and open the vast ocean as a recourse to feed Humanity.    The future demands that we solve our problems on a Global basis, not on the basis of private economic return.  The world food crisis must be solved by innovative ideas, squeezing more food out of agriculture is not going to solve the problem.   We must bring about a World that is not dominated by the so called bottom line but rather one where finances are at the service of Humanity.   Let's all unite into a network of creativity where diverse ideas well up and drive the body politic. In the future democracy  politics are  proactive.  We must ALL lead the way.

Atlanta, GA
Jun 4, 2008