Interview with WWF's Aquaculture Expert on the Industry’s Trillion-Dollar Opportunity

This month, Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) interviewed Dr. Sergio Nates, Senior Director for Aquaculture at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the world’s leading conservation organization.

 In July 2025, the World Wildlife Fund and the World Bank released a new report, Harnessing the Waters: A Trillion Dollar Investment Opportunity in Sustainable Aquaculture, which recognized aquaculture as one of the most promising opportunities for building a more sustainable food system over the next 25 years. The report found that aquaculture could generate 22 million new jobs by 2050 and presents a $1.5 trillion investment opportunity in the sector.

 SATS spoke with Dr. Nates to learn more about the role of aquaculture in a sustainable seafood future and opportunities for the industry’s growth here in the U.S.

 The report calls aquaculture “one of the most promising opportunities” for building a sustainable food system and highlights how responsible aquaculture can reduce emissions and limit environmental harm while increasing access to sustainable protein. What role can expanding U.S. aquaculture help play in increasing our supply of sustainable seafood and addressing food security needs?

 Increasing American aquaculture could also greatly expand the country's supply of sustainable seafood and decrease dependence on those stocks that are overfished. Already, aquaculture contributes 59 percent of the world's aquatic food production, and as more than 90 percent of wild fisheries reach and exceed sustainable limits, responsible seafood production through aquaculture in the U.S. can enable the country to meet the growing protein demands with a small carbon footprint and more efficient use of resources. This growth can be coupled with responsible aquaculture practices and guarantee year-round, reliable production, as well as improve resilience to climate change and a sustainable, environmentally focused growth guaranteeing water quality through plant-based or novel feeds, soil-based sanitation, high-tech water quality monitoring, and integrated multi-trophic systems.

 The report projects that aquaculture could generate up to $1.5 trillion in annual production value and create more than 20 million jobs by 2050. Can you speak to the economic opportunities that aquaculture would provide American communities?

 It is estimated that aquaculture will be producing up to $1.5 trillion in annual production value and employing more than 20 million people by 2050 in the upside growth scenario mentioned in the report. It is the creation of high-value American jobs in farming, processing, feed production, logistics, and technology services, especially in coastal and rural American communities. Chile, Ecuador, and Vietnam case studies have demonstrated that aquaculture centers have the potential to revolutionize local economies (through spurring infrastructure investment, developing export markets, and feeding ancillary facilities like cold chain logistics and alternative feed production).

 How do advancements in technology, science and research continue to make aquaculture one of the most sustainable forms of protein production today.

 Improvements in genetics, breeding, feed formulation, high-tech monitoring, recirculating aquaculture systems, and alternative feeds (i.e., insect meal, algae, and single-cell proteins) have also had a dramatic effect in reducing environmental impact. An example would be innovations in fish feed over the past few decades, which have replaced the use of fishmeal in salmon feed by replacing it with sustainable plant-based ingredients. Such innovations address the question of water use, fish welfare, and feed conversion rates, as well as keep aquaculture the least GHG-intensive animal protein sector.

 In your opinion, why is it important for the U.S. to prioritize investment in aquaculture?

 Placing aquaculture investment as its priority would allow the U.S. to stake its proportion of the estimated trillion-dollar global industry, curtail the seafood trade deficit, and attain food security. In the absence of such an investment, the growth will continue to be centered in the Asian and other emerging economies, with the United States relying on imports and forgoing economic potential. The American move towards sustainable offshore and land-based systems should be adopted in order to become a global leader in high-quality and responsibly farmed seafood.

 We’re seeing growing support among environmental and conservation groups in favor of responsible open ocean aquaculture development in the U.S. Why do you believe that is the case?

 The support has grown due to modern aquaculture, especially the good management, which has been known to be among the most resource-efficient and climate-friendly protein production systems. The importance of aquaculture to sustain future protein demands without increasing terrestrial-intensive meat production or overharvesting wild fish has not been lost on conservation groups. Aquaculture is well suited to traditions of sustainable food systems through responsible production in open oceans, species diversification, and development in coordination with habitat restoration programs (such as shellfish-reef construction and seaweed farms to sequester carbon).