Nearly every coastal country has the potential to meet its own domestic seafood needs through aquaculture, according to a study led by scientists from UC Santa Barbara that includes researchers from the Nature Conservancy, UCLA and NOAA. In fact, each country could do so using a tiny fraction of its ocean territory.

The research, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, demonstrates the oceans’ potential to support aquaculture, which is the fastest-growing food sector and is poised to address increasing issues of food insecurity around the world.

“There is a lot of space that is suitable for aquaculture, and that is not what’s going to limit its development,” said lead author Rebecca Gentry. “It’s going to be other things, such as governance and economics.”

Caption: Salmon aquaculture in Norway along the coast. (Photo Credit: Brataffe/Wikimedia Commons)