Blue biotechnology : its role in the future of food

Abstract: To provide healthy food and livelihoods to a growing population on Earth, while environmental issues becoming more adverse, as well as climate change becoming more critical, is one of today’s greatest challenges. By 2015 the United Nations come up with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) to tackle global challenges as poverty, global hunger, climate resilience, population growth control, achieving food security, and promotion of sustainable agriculture. All depending on the future food system. Agriculture alone will not be able to meet the goals. Fisheries and aquaculture will also be important and especially under-explored aquatic sources used in blue biotechnology. In this report trends in aquaculture, and the role of blue biotechnology as a contribution to safe and secure future food, as well as its possible to reduce world hunger and poverty are discussed. The major challenges aquaculture is facing for expansion are; biosecurity and disease challenges; environmental challenges, competition with (terrestrial animal) agriculture for water and land resources, and feed ingredients and nutraceuticals. Blue biotechnology applications as innovative systems reduce the use of land and freshwater and secure the ecosystem and biodiversity as well as the welfare of the fishes. The developed technological tools and increased knowledge minimize the use of antibiotics and the outbreaks of diseases by adapted vaccines. These findings and applications developed through blue biotechnology practices based on aquatic resources will increase resilience and the sustainable development of the extended aquaculture, but if existing technologies mention in this report will be enough is uncertain. If the aquaculture will succeed to minimize environmental impact and securing safe, secure, and nutritional food for the growing population needs further knowledge of how these technologies work in practice.