Sure, and that's a great question.
Part of what we've been thinking a lot about is that with increased populations, we need more protein, and fish is a valuable source of protein. If we want to provide that protein source through fish, then you have the wild fisheries or you have aquaculture. I think most people feel that the wild fisheries are currently being fished to their maximum capacity and, in some cases, beyond.
The ability to draw more protein from that source is not an option. In well-managed systems, I think that's a nice, sustainable form of fish production, to get to your question. If we want to increase protein production beyond what the wild fishery can supply, then it has to be aquaculture, and then the question is what is the more sustainable way to go?
Industry responds a lot to public perception and, clearly, something like aquaculture is a hotly debated topic. Often people choose a side: It's either good or bad. I'm a firm believer that there's a huge middle ground that that needs to be discussed. I'm always a bit disappointed in how the media focuses on whether it's good or bad. Closed containment, in this form today, is moving into that grey area to get at more sustainable aquaculture.
In open net pen culture, a lot of practices are changing to improve its sustainability, which is a great thing. Certainly looking into and working with closed containment is a great way to go. There are pros and cons in both. Closed containment has a much higher energy requirement than open net pen farming, but again you have the ability to regulate environmental conditions very tightly, and that can promote fish welfare.
To answer your question on which is more sustainable, I think it's difficult to say. It's early days with closed containment, and what's happening with it is exciting. It has a lot of potential, and I think we'll learn a lot as we go. That's one of the things that has us interested in closed containment. A lot of the public perceptions of the negative aspects of net pen aquaculture can be satisfied, and we'll have to see what sort of challenges appear as closed containment aquaculture moves forward.