The Sea Will Kill Us

…unless we can use it to save us first.

“Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat”. But in the years ahead you probably shouldn’t. Here’s why.

Some time in the early 2000s, a group of algal researchers were having a hearty snack at an open-air prawn farm somewhere in Southeast-Asia. They came to take water samples, to look at the algal diversity and the water quality — and, of course, to eat giant prawn.

The giant prawn farms, just like the tilapia farms in Southeast Asia, are often ingenious, fully organic, ecologically sound circular economy affairs. The only thing “giant” in “giant prawn farm” are the prawns: the farm itself is a relatively small open-air pond, in an equally small garden of a single-family home. Chickens roost next to and above the pond, fed with the remains of the family’s lunch — mostly rice. The family sells eggs, and occasionally chickens. The chickens’ droppings end up in the pond, fertilizing the microalgae thriving in the water below, taking their energy from the blasting tropical South-Asian sun, and capturing CO2 from the air. These microalgae are what in the end feeds the prawns. The prawns fetch a nice price at the international market, but at the charcoal grill right next to the house they are almost free. Especially among friends.

It is then a complicated affair the week after, to tell your friend, and especially the public whose business is what the farm depends on, that a lot of…