This is important in identifying a continued role for capture fisheries and highlighting another aspect of the trade-offs
arguments: compensation for lost capture fisheries production from pursuing other development options. The issue of
compensating for losses is not a simple one and goes beyond aquaculture substituting for capture fisheries. It is often
assumed that moving away from wild foods to domesticated foods constitutes progress, and that losses of wild foods (like
fisheries) can be compensated for.
The evidence so far suggests that this is not the case. As Jeremy Bird, the CEO of the Mekong River Commission noted recently: