What do teenagers think about aquaculture?

It was sunny in Pembrokeshire, Wales on the 11th of March – a luxury in this part of the world. The Marine Energy Event took place in the Bridge Innovation Centre on this date. This event targeted 16 to 18 years old students from local Welsh colleges. Dr Sara Barrento from the Centre of Sustainable Aquatic Research delivered 4 workshops on aquaculture. 

What is aquaculture? This kickstarted a conversation around aquaculture and its impacts.

The workshops attended by 69 students aimed to disseminate the Access2Sea project. It was also the ideal platform to deliver the aquaculture awareness questionnaire. We want to know what civil society thinks about aquaculture.

It seems our students kind of know what aquaculture is.

But they are divided when it comes to aquaculture environmental impacts – it can be positive (52% agree), but it can also be negative (58% agree).

Most students agree on two things: 

1. aquaculture can be good to the local economy
2. it can have negative impacts on fish welfare

The 11th of March was 2 weeks ago, it was also the day The World Health Organisation officially declared a pandemic. Coronavirus is changing our society at an unprecedented pace. What does this mean for seafood and the aquaculture industry? Time will tell.

Text and images by Dr Sara Barrento

Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research, Swansea University