Seabass and bream farming is driving global food insecurity and environmental destruction

• More than a quarter more people could be fed a weekly 200g portion of fish if it wasn’t fed to farmed seabass and seabream
• “Many take to the sea, no longer to fish, but to flee,” says Mor Mbengue, President of the Cayar artisanal fisheries committee in Senegal
• European Union and government funding is bolstering this destructive industry

NICE, FRANCE. 12 June 2025 – The devastation caused by fish farms in Scotland and Norway has been increasingly under fire, yet huge swathes of the Mediterranean have been quietly taken over by industrial-scale seabass and seabream farms – boosted by European Union and government funding. This is driving untold environmental destruction and depriving global communities of food and livelihoods.

This Mediterranean ‘takeover’ by seabass and seabream farms is revealed today [12 June, 2025] at the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in a new report Ocean Takeover from environmental charity Foodrise (formerly Feedback Global), Greek alliance Aktaia and Spain’s Associació Cultural Ecológista de Calp (ACEC).

The new research reveals the sheer scale of the ‘feed footprint’ of seabass and seabream farming with huge numbers of wild fish turned into fish oil to feed farmed seabass and seabream. The researchers found 300,000 tonnes of fish could be left in the ocean, or that over a quarter more people (28%) could be fed a weekly portion of 200g fish if it wasn’t used to feed farmed seabass and seabream.

This means that seabass and seabream farming has a negative impact on global food security, contrary to what the industry consistently claims.

The extraction of wild fish from countries in West Africa, including Senegal, Mauritania and Gambia to produce fish meal and fish oil (FMFO) for industrial aquaculture is contributing to the worsening food security crisis: in 2023, food insecurity in the region hit a 10-year high [1].

The latest data (2021) from EUMOFA underlines the scale of the problem, with 98% of the European seabass eaten coming from farms, while just 2% is from fisheries [2].

While Türkiye is the world’s biggest producer of farmed seabass and seabream (44%), Greece is the biggest in the European Union – with its industry growing 141% since the turn of the century [3]. This growth in Greece is fuelled partly by the extraction of vast amounts of wild fish from West and Southern Africa – enough to feed nearly one million people a year, according to the new research.

Despite this, the report reveals substantial support from national governments and the European Union, which collectively have channelled millions of euros into promoting the growth of intensive fish farming – to the detriment of critical Mediterranean ecosystems and coastal communities, as well as people across the globe.

For example, Under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) 2021–2027, Greece will receive €91 million to support “sustainable aquaculture and processing” [4].

Meanwhile, changes to legislation in Greece have dramatically increased the permissible areas for intensive aquaculture – expanding them 24-fold. This effectively grants vast stretches of the country’s coastline to private companies from across the world for their exclusive use to make big profits – at the expense of the environment.

Natasha Hurley, Campaigns Director at Foodrise, said: “It’s high time we all knew where the seabass and seabream on our plates comes from – and the huge environmental cost of each bite. Our new research clearly shows the shocking takeover of the Mediterranean by profit-hungry corporations is driving environmental destruction and global food insecurity. What’s even more galling is that this is happening courtesy of funding from national governments and the European Union.

“Industrial aquaculture is increasingly touted as a solution to ecosystem collapse and food insecurity as our oceans’ wild fish populations come increasingly under threat, but this is a deeply misleading narrative, fuelled by vested corporate interests. Today’s findings powerfully demonstrate that intensive fish farming is a false solution, and shows why we need to see an urgent end to the rapid expansion of seabass and seabream farms in the Mediterranean.” 

Mor Mbengue, President of the Cayar artisanal fisheries committee (Cayar, Senegal), said: “Before, the sea made us live. We caught enough to feed our families, and the women of the village processed the fish to sell to the inhabitants of the cities far from the Senegalese coast, thus providing 70% of their animal protein needs. Since the arrival of fishmeal factories, which target coastal pelagic species and fish for juveniles, everything has collapsed.

“The fish have disappeared, the air has become unbreathable, the water is polluted. Women have lost their jobs, young people no longer have a future here. Many take to the sea, no longer to fish, but to flee. The most revolting thing is that all this fish plundered here does not even feed human beings: it goes to Europe and Asia to fatten farmed fish or pigs. We sacrifice our lives to feed animals on the other side of the world. It’s an injustice that we can no longer bear.”

 Fay Orfanidou, from Aktaia – The Greek Alliance for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Aquaculture, said: “We are aghast at the pillaging of wild fish populations off the coasts of Africa, Latin America and Asia to produce feed for the fish farms which are blighting our lives here in Greece and throughout the Mediterranean.

“This is not food security. It’s theft: taking fish from the hungry to feed a polluting export industry. We are the voice of the coastal communities, and we will not be silenced. Our seas are not for sale. Our fight is for the future of Greece – and we will not give up.”

Read the report: Ocean Takeover – How seabass and seabream farming in the Mediterranean is driving environmental destruction and food injustice.

References

[1] Alexandra Heal et al., “The Hidden Cost of Your Supermarket Salmon,” The Financial Times, January 31, 2024, https://ig.ft.com/supermarket-salmon.

[2] New study: Fresh European Seabass in the EU, European Market Observatory for
Fisheries and Aquaculture Products, New study: Fresh European Seabass in the EU

[3] Hellenic Aquaculture Producers Organization, “2024 Annual Report: Aquaculture in Greece,” 2024, https://fishfromgreece.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/HAPO_AR24_WEB_v5.f.

[4] European Commission, “Greece Will Receive €364 Million from the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund 2021-2027,” December 1, 2022, https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/news/greece-will-receive-eu364-million-european-maritime-fisheries-and-aquaculture-fund-2021-2027-2022-12-01_en.