Growth Without Guardrails

The report criticizes the FAO for promoting a target of 75% growth in 'sustainable aquaculture' by 2040 without distinguishing between low-impact and feed-intensive production systems. Modelling suggests that if current trends continue, demand for wild fish could rise by 85–88%, potentially diverting nutritious fish from vulnerable populations in Africa and Asia. The document highlights a 'policy drift' in the GSA, where earlier safeguards regarding nutrition and competition between aquafeed and human food were removed, allegedly influenced by the aquaculture industry and Norway. It concludes that FAO should prioritize non-fed, low-trophic aquatic foods and eliminate edible wild fish from aquafeeds to align with its founding mandate.

• The FAO climate roadmap targets at least 75% growth in global 'sustainable aquaculture' production by 2040 compared to 2020 levels, but the report argues this is being pursued 'without guardrails' as the roadmap and Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture (GSA) fail to constrain environmentally damaging, feed-intensive production systems.
• Modelling conducted with the University of British Columbia indicates that the impact of FAO's growth target depends on the production pathway: continuing recent trends would increase wild fish demand by 85–88% (reaching 29–38% of the 2020 global wild catch), while growth concentrated in feed-intensive species could more than double demand. Conversely, prioritizing species requiring little to no wild fish could reduce demand by 16–17% below 2020 levels.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2026). Growth Without Guardrails. https://changingmarkets.org/report/growth-without-guardrails/

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. Growth Without Guardrails. 2026. https://changingmarkets.org/report/growth-without-guardrails/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=Growth Without Guardrails |date=1 September 2026 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/report/growth-without-guardrails/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2026growth, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{Growth Without Guardrails}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2026}, month = sep, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/report/growth-without-guardrails/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }