When asked why he pursued a doctorate at the age of 71, Yusuf quoted Allama Iqbal, Urdu poet and anti-colonialism liberator - 1877-1938, who said that “A learned (wo)man only stays a learned (wo)man as long (s)he learns, the moment (s)he stops learning, (s)he becomes ignorant”.
Finfish aquaculture is still emerging as a potential sector for economic development in South Africa’s Oceans Economy and therefore creates an opportunity for business and scientists globally to prevent repeating the industry’s production and supply chain risks in contemporary aquaculture systems, Dr Adam says.
His doctoral research aimed to find an alternative more sustainable aquaculture feed model and to show the industry that adaptations are necessary for climate-smart culture methods.
The University’s focus on the Ocean Sciences and sustainable stewardship b3ncesNelson Mandela University Aquaculture, which originated 4000 years ago in natural marine and coastal ecosystems, is the fastest growing animal food production sector globally to meet growing nutrition requirements.
The sector constitutes almost half of the global seafood production and consumption, which will soon expand to produce more seafood for nutrition requirements than the volume stocked by the depleting capture fisheries.
However, contemporary aquaculture modes of production and industry practices have detrimental impacts on marine ecologies and coastal environments, which stem from intensive monocultures of certain species. In addition, the aquaculture production methods, totally rely on reduction fisheries to produce fish meal and fish oil as key ingredients for aquaculture feed.
Dr Adam’s research industry also includes the supply and demand conflicts with the agricultural sector, as previous research has attempted to partially replace fish meal and fish oil with agricultural proteins and oils, but this increased food security conflicts and is detrimental to food sovereignty.
This research investigated more sustainable marine ecosystem management practices through alternative aquaculture feed ingredients and production systems that mimic the symbiotic functioning of plant and animal species as found in natural marine food chains.
A range of sustainably sourced alternative marine and agriculture feed ingredients was identified, which provide protein and lipids with a positive impact on finfish value chains.
The research also recommends alternative aquaculture feed production through integrated polyculture were multiple species function in symbiosis; and reduces the dependence on external feed. The research contribution lies in the biotechnological business models enhancing the science of aquaculture production.