In the northern hemisphere we have sea bass and sea bream and there are a few instances of tilapia, albeit slow growing. But what about barramundi (asian sea bass) snapper (red sea bream), grouper, yellowtail, cobia, mahi mahi, etc. In all these species we are talking about relatively small scale to no farmed production in the southern hemisphere. Why?
Is it lack of suitable growing sites?
Poor commercial success?
Low demand for these species?
It is evident now that wild fish stocks are shrinking and the staple fish on the supermarket shelves is farmed salmon with cheaper imports like frozen freshwater basa (Pangasius spp) and nile perch (Lates niloticus) being the other main option with a smattering of very expensive wild caught fish (hoki, dory, snapper, flathead, whiting, garfish, etc). The quality of the wild caught fish is often very poor, particularly texture.
There is also growing interest from investors in aquaculture because it represents an attractive investment in primary production when compared with terrestrial agriculture, however there are only so many salmon farms in the southern hemisphere..
The statistics all point towards great potential in a farmed marine whitefish industry in the southern hemisphere. It makes sense to utilise the cooler waters for salmon culture as the process is well understood and the infrastructure developed and markets established but what about the warmer temperate and tropical regions?
Most regions have issues with multiple stakeholders and tropical areas have added tourism pressure and coral reef communities (that despite environmental science research showing they can coexist with farmed finfish, the emotive pressure is typically too great). There may be a few options in certain areas off the tourist map though, and barramundi (Lates calcarifer) shows enormous potential for farming and market demand.
For warmer temperate waters the yellowtail is probably the best next contender with the Japanese industry and consequent established demand being big pluses.
There is still a long way to go with both these species but there is no doubt that there is a place in the market for them and investors will become more interested and motivated once the scale of these industries starts to exceed R&D, i.e. >5000 tonnes pa. per operator. Whether, there are suitable sites available for these volumes and willing startup entrepreneurs remain to be seen but any pioneer can be assured that it is an area under close scrutiny.