This research examines the rapidly developing aquaculture of salmon and its impacts on Japan’s society and ecosystem. While the bulk of previous studies have focused on how to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of farming technology, little has been researched about the social and ecological implications of salmon aquaculture.

We see aquaculture not only as technical and biological innovation but also as a socio-economic enterprise that disconnects salmon from the social-ecological systems (SES) through enclosures. Salmon are both a food commodity in the global food economy and a keystone species in the natural food web. By employing SES analysis, we investigate how the enclosure of a particular species influence the sustainability of existing ecological systems and the governance over its production, distribution, and consumption. This research seeks to integrate the complexity of social-ecological interactions into environmental policy-making that considers the sustainability of both humans and non-humans.  

More info: https://www.kasasustainability.org/research