It is well recognized that the harvest from wild fisheries is nearing or exceeding critical levels in most parts of the world. Some fisheries will not be sustainable into the next decade, let alone in 40 years, as recently stated in Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

At Oceanic Institute, an affiliate of Hawai'i Pacific University, we believe that future increases in seafood production will come from aquaculture. Given the increasing demand and the limits on the bounty we can harvest from wild capture fisheries, there is simply no other viable alternative.

This is why our research programs focus on sustainable ways to raise moi, kahala, and other species to meet our current and future needs. The use of innovative systems to recirculate water in fish hatcheries, the development of feeds utilizing agricultural byproducts and wastes from fish processing plants and the use of submerged cages to minimize impacts and reduce conflicting ocean uses are critical.

Results are encouraging. Our studies over many years now have shown that water quality is not adversely impacted nor is the ocean bottom near off-shore cages significantly degraded. Great strides have been made by local companies like Cates International and Kona Blue Water in implementing environmentally friendly technologies. They are producing large numbers of fish in ocean-based culture systems that previously were not available in significant quantities because of overfishing, like moi, or that contain toxins in the wild, such as kahala. Indeed, we already know how to grow and harvest these delicious and healthy fish without depleting the world's wild fisheries. We just need to do more of it.

The rest of the world is way ahead of us. Today, the United States annually spends $8 billion importing seafood. Nevertheless, we can catch up and, at the same time, preserve our wild caught fisheries. We are making progress. The recently released 2005 Census of Aquaculture states that "aquaculture production is now a $1.1 billion industry in the United States." Sales of fish, shellfish, and other aquaculture products grew about 12 percent between the years 1998-2005. However, Americans are eating more fish than ever before — nearly 17 pounds per person annually. We got the message: Eating fish is essential to a balanced diet. The demand for healthy fish is not going to decrease.

Sustainable fisheries management practices and aquaculture development must go hand in hand, and Hawai'i is leading the way. To protect our oceans, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has enunciated a policy toward increasing aquaculture production in the United States from 1 billion pounds to 5 billion pounds by 2025. Oceanic Institute is in step with that mission, and sees the responsible development of offshore aquaculture as a primary means of achieving that goal.

Bruce S. Anderson is president of Oceanic Institute. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.