How to feed the world.

[mistermack]

I've had an idea how we can massively increase food production, without destroying any environment.
Most of the planet is covered by deep ocean. This is generally sterile crystal clear water, with very little plankton or fish life.
In some places, ocean currents wash nutrients up from the depths to the surface, and you get a proliferation of plankton and fish life.

Why don't we design huge ships, that dangle suction tubes down to the ocean floor, and pump the organic material up to the surface? The countries that contribute to the ships could then have exclusive rights to the fishing in that area.

You could be making use of the 2/3 of the earths surface that doesn't produce much, and relieve pressure on species that are heading for extinction.

This could even reduce global warming, as CO2 would be absorbed by the green plankton, and sunlight would be used chemically, instead of being turned to heat.
.

[Tero]

Why dont we just feed as many as current technology can feed? Feeding more just breeds more

[mistermack]

Why dont we just feed as many as current technology can feed? Feeding more just breeds more

In a way, that's saying why don't we just starve more people?
I agree that the human population is far too high, but I think there are better ways of reducing it than starvation. Education and free birth control for all are my favourites.

[Tero]

Until the one or two kids per couple becomes a challenge. We cant support western lifestyles for 10 billion

[Mysturji]

I've had an idea how we can massively increase food production, without destroying any environment.
Most of the planet is covered by deep ocean. This is generally sterile crystal clear water, with very little plankton or fish life.
In some places, ocean currents wash nutrients up from the depths to the surface, and you get a proliferation of plankton and fish life.

Why don't we design huge ships, that dangle suction tubes down to the ocean floor, and pump the organic material up to the surface? The countries that contribute to the ships could then have exclusive rights to the fishing in that area.

You could be making use of the 2/3 of the earths surface that doesn't produce much, and relieve pressure on species that are heading for extinction.

This could even reduce global warming, as CO2 would be absorbed by the green plankton, and sunlight would be used chemically, instead of being turned to heat.
.

Not true.
Extremely dubious.
What will power the ships and the pumps? and then what? Wait for the fish to breed?
If you're thinking of the huge "floating mats" of plankton that help to create "dead zones" these are fed by rivers washing out fertilisers and detergents and sewage and other nutritious stuff into the oceans.
Try Soylent Green instead.

[mistermack]

Not true.

Yes it is.

Extremely dubious.

No it aint.

What will power the ships and the pumps? and then what? Wait for the fish to breed?

Marine Diesel. And possibly some solar power. And yes. Wait.

If you're thinking of the huge "floating mats" of plankton......

Not really.

[BrettA]

Try Soylent Green instead.

+1.

[Deep Sea Isopod]

The lord will provide. With his help I can feed 5,000 people with a fish and a loaf of bread.

[Tero]

Why don't we do a Galapagos, return to the sea and feed directly from there?

[mistermack]

Why don't we do a Galapagos, return to the sea and feed directly from there?

Not me. A couple of hours on the sea is engough for me.

I seriously think this is practical. The ships could be obsolete, ready for scrap, as they don't need to go very quick. They wouldn't use much power, as they could use ocean drift. And the pumps would only need to overcome the friction in the pipes, as the lifting is done by the pressure of the deep.
.

[mistermack]

Upwelling currents are widely quoted as the key to fertility of the oceans. Here's one example :

The most productive waters in the world are upwelling zones, such as those of the west coast of South America. Here, the abundance of nutrients supports a large population of phytoplankton, which in turn is the foundation of rich fishing grounds. If upwelling stops, as happens off Peru during an El Niño event, the fish population declines; if the fishery has already been weakened by overfishing, it may collapse, as did the Peruvian anchovy fishery in the early 1970s.

Read more: Ocean Ecosystems: Open Ocean - Biology Encyclopedia - body, organisms, life, water, energy, make, temperature, species, growth http://www.biologyreference.com/Oc-Ph/O ... z1BFArikcV

Here's the link to the full article :

(Link)

[mistermack]

It appears that some people are thinking along similar lines, although not the same idea.
There are ongoing trials where they are "seeding" deep ocean water with Iron, to encourage the growth of phytoplankton. It seems that the deep ocean water is so clear and mineral-free that there isn't enough dissolved iron for the green phytoplankton to grow or photosynthesise.
Adding just iron has successfully created large blooms of plankton.

This is being trialed as a means of fixing CO2, but I don't see why pumping up nutrients from the deep wouldn't be more effective, and more productive of edible fish life.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia page on the Iron seeding trials :
It also makes clear just how productive natural upwellings of nutrients are from the deep. :
(Link)

[nellikin]

I don't actually understand this idea? You want to suck organics up from the ocean floor and use them as fertiliser in the ocean? I think scientists might call that engineered eutrophication...

[FBM]

Humans aren't so different from any other animal population. The more nutrients you make available, the more the population will expand. I say let's educate and reduce the birth rate, rather than continue seeking more parts of the planet to deplete.

[mistermack]

Wow, it appears that great minds DO think alike. I just followed a link from the wikipedia page, and it appears that James Lovelock, the man who discovered the CFC problem, among many other discoveries, came up with the same idea a few years ago. (or very similar) . Somebody always gets there first.

He hasn't convinced anyone to try it though. It would be difficult to organise the financial payback for such a scheme. He was just working on fixing CO2 from the atmosphere, rather than a food growing excercise.

Here's the link for that article :
(Link)