The conference was organised by FAO, the Thai Department of Fisheries and NACA and held in the Mövenpick Resort and Spa, Phuket, Thailand, 22-25 September. The conference was the third in a series of aquaculture development conferences, following on from the Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium held in Bangkok 2000, and the FAO Technical Conference on Aquaculture, held in Kyoto 1976.

This keynote presentation elaborates the achievements made in aquaculture globally during the past decade, in keeping with the Bangkok Declaration and Strategy, which brought the aquaculture sector to the current level. It has been recognised that the principles and strategies advocated by the Kyoto Declaration on Aquaculture in 1976, the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries in 1995, and the Bangkok Declaration and Strategy in 2000 have served well the process and goals of aquaculture development.

This review covers aquaculture development in sub-Saharan Africa. The bulk of the production (93 percent) is from freshwater and is predominantly the culture of the indigenous and ubiquitous species of tilapias and African catfishes. In 2007 catfish contributed about 49 percent of the total production, and interest in the culture of the species for domestic markets, intra- and inter-regional trade and exports overseas is still growing in several countries.

The Asia-Pacific region continues to lead in aquaculture production. The dominance of the region in the global aquaculture scene is also exemplified by the Asia-Pacific being the leading producer of the major cultured commodities viz. finfish, molluscs, shrimp and seaweed, and nine out of ten of the current leading aquaculture-producing countries being from the region. Among the countries in the region, China has continued to maintain its dominance in aquaculture production.

This review covers aquaculture development in Europe. In Europe, aquaculture generally has a marginal contribution to national economies and employment. Extensive and semi-intensive systems employ more people per unit production than modern intensive systems. arming systems, technologies and species are very diverse in Europe. Significant research and development has focused on improving the efficiency of production systems and the quality of the produced fish, while mitigating environmental impact.

This review covers aquaculture development in Latin America and the Caribbean Region. Current norms and market conditions tend to discourage the participation of small-scale farmers in this industry, implying that there is a need for governmental help in providing technology and technical assistance to these producers including management, market and marketing, financial aspects, logistic, etc. that commonly become the soft spots that have made past support efforts fail for most part.

This review covers aquaculture development in the Near East and North Africa. The main driving forces responsible for the expansion of the sector have included an increased public health awareness and interest in fish products, the passing of enabling policies driven by the need for consolidating domestic fish supply, compensating for declining capture fishery landings, strengthening the livelihood of rural communities and supporting food security programmes.

This review covers the status and trends in aquaculture development in North America including the nations of Canada and the United States of America. It is organised by thematic areas including the social and economic background of the region; resources, services and technologies; aquaculture and environment; markets and trade; contribution of aquaculture to food security, social and economic development; external pressures on the sector; the role of shared information, research, networking and governance.

Global aquaculture has not grown evenly around the world. There are marked intra and inter-regional and country variations in a number of areas, such as production level, species composition, farming systems and producer profile. This presentation reviews patterns in global aquaculture development, including regional development, species cultivated, industry composition, research effort, trade and governance issues. As the sector further expands, intensifies and diversifies it should make efforts to address sustainability in a transparent manner.

Plenary discussion of the regional and global aquaculture reviews presented at the Global Conference on Aquaculture 2010.