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.

Aquaculture is frequently criticised for having a negative impact on the environment, which tends to overshadow its contributions to fighting hunger and alleviating poverty. This presentation reviews some of the needs to enhance the sustainability of the sector including knowledge of the basic biology of cultured species and immune systems of aquatic animals, the role of microflora in the production biology of aquatic systems, domestication, and integration of aquaculture practices with fisheries management. 

Sustainability of the sector implies technical feasibility, economic viability, environmental integrity and social licence. A sustainable aquaculture sector will benefit every member of society because of its associated invaluable environmental and social amenities. This review examines countries’ recent experiences and the role that aquaculture has played in improving socio-economic growth and development, and to discuss how governance instruments and effective partnership amongst stakeholders can lead to enhanced aquaculture’s net benefits to society.

There is a consensus that modern aquaculture has a business orientation, similar to any small or medium-sized enterprise. For resources to be invested, there must be an enabling economic environment and secure property rights. However, there must also be controls to curb short-sighted business behaviour that damages the ecology or society. This presentation examines aquaculture governance from a global perspective, looking at its current status and the role of governments and stakeholders.

Over the past decade, new, environmentally sound technologies and resource-efficient farming systems have been developed, and the integration of aquaculture into coastal area and inland watershed management plans has been achieved, but are still not widespread. These aquaculture ecosystems are highly productive, semi-intensive enterprises that are water and land efficient, and are net energy and protein producers that follow design principles similar to those used in the fields of agroecology and agroecosystems.

This presentation builds on countries’ recent experiences to review the role of aquaculture in countries’ socio-economic growth and development, and discusses how institutional arrangements can lead to aquaculture’s enhanced net benefits to society. Aquaculture growth has recently been slowing down, and the sector is facing various resource, environmental, economic, knowledge and institutional constraints. Population growth, economic expansion and increasing preference for healthy food are expected to sustain the demand for aquaculture products.

This presentation reviews the role of emerging technologies in aquaculture. In genetics and breeding, the pace of advancement and innovation has been increasing exponentially. Improvements in aquatic animal health are coming from new technologies and improved management strategies. Nutritional research has focused on shifting from formulations based on ingredients to strategies based on nutrient availabilities and requirements. Production systems technology advancements are also contributing to sustainable industry expansion.