Following decades of R&D, technological advances and slow yet steady progress towards production, offshore marine fish aquaculture has reached the commercialization stage in the Americas. Full cycle aquaculture technology of several commercially important species has become or is quickly becoming available. Hatcheries are now capable of spawning broodstock and producing juveniles of species such as cobia (Rachycentron canadum), Hamachi/kampachi (Seriola rivoliana, S. lalandi / S. dorsalis), pompanos (Trachinotus carolinus), snappers (Lutjanus guttatus, L. peru and L. campechanus), yellowtail snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus), totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), tripletail (Lobotes surinamensis), olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) – among others. Steady supply of high-quality juveniles of certain species is still limited, but it is unlikely that this will remain a bottleneck for industry expansion. For certain species, technology is ahead of the industry. For example, the limitations for expanding commercial growout operations for species such as the red snapper and the olive flounder are mainly due to a lack of interest in investing in new facilities or systems for raising them.
Open ocean/offshore aquaculture, recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) and flow-through in-line raceways are all viable options. Large scale production required to achieve commercial viability require advanced technologies demanding high levels of investment and long-term commitment. Hence, fish produced in these systems must be sold at high prices to compensate the high capital and operating costs required, limiting their demand in a highly competitive white fish market. Most of the production is being done with a few species (cobia, Seriola, snappers, totoaba) in cages in the open ocean. Commercial production is taking place in several countries, yet the economic viability remains mostly elusive in the Americas and the Caribbean – where the industry is still in its infancy. Infrastructure and logistics exist, as well as market demand. Technology continues to expand rapidly. Challenges such as optimizing genetics, nutrition, and diseases control must be tackled to secure commercial viability. Automation is progressing fast and being constantly refined. Machine learning and artificial intelligence tools are becoming available and being incorporated to perfect systems automation. The development of practical, specialized feeds for all developmental stages of species such as cobia, snappers and Seriola remains a challenge. FCRs are still high, limiting performance and increasing production costs.
Although still incipient when compared to the Asian and European continents, commercial aquaculture production of marine fish in the Americas has become a reality.