SIR CHARLES GODFRAY SPEAKING ON A JUST, SUSTAINABLE AND HEALTHY FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN

Sir Charles Godfray speaking on a just, sustainable and healthy food supply chain. Sir Charles Godfray, Director of Oxford University’s Oxford Martin School & this year’s keynote speaker for the City Food & Drink Lecture, which will be held on 15th May 2023 at London’s Guildhall.

Fish Focus posed some questions to Sir Charles regarding the part the seafood industry has to play in feeding future populations sustainably:

Aquaculture is providing an answer to feeding the population, but has received negative press from some quarters. What are your views on aquaculture as a sustainable source of food for the future?

Well-designed sustainable aquaculture is an important source of protein for humans and there is the opportunity for this to be expanded.  We can learn from systems in Asia where livestock, crop production and aquaculture are very well-integrated, and moving to deep-sea aquaculture is exciting if the technical challenges can be overcome.  But some aquaculture systems do severely damage the environment and if this is not addressed it risks undermining the reputation of the whole sector.

Now we are out of the European Union, should the UK be supplying its own fish, rather than sourcing from other countries?

I don’t think leaving the EU changes the priority of creating sustainable and economically competitive aquaculture – I’m not in favour of policies that privilege local sourcing per se.

Do you think that the future of aquaculture is in land-based RAS technology?

Certainly part of the future, but land is of course in short supply.

What is your opinion on cell-based and cell-cultured seafood and its positioning in the future of the challenges of feeding the population?

Substantial progress is being made in this area, and I think it likely that within a decade we will have material that is a pretty good substitute for processed fish products (fish cakes etc).  There are some who predict textured seafood within that time frame but I think that will take longer.  Unclear at the moment is whether the alternatives are economically competitive and what their relative carbon footprints are (lower carbon footprints would encourage uptake).  If some fish products are replaced by alternatives this will affect the overall economics of aquaculture/capture fisheries.

Should we be moving to a future where plant-based seafood alternatives play a greater role?

Where plant-based may be very important is in developing fish feed with correct lipid balance to replace existing fish meal.  Full disclosure: I was on the Board of Rothamsted Research that are leaders in developing modified plant products suitable for fish feed.  I think this important and exciting.