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.
Risk and uncertainty associated with returns from investment in aquaculture to be an important constraint on aquaculture investment. Attention is given in this paper to identifying the factors that contribute to risk and uncertainty in aquaculture and methods of specifying the risk and uncertainty involved. It is found that there is limited practical scope for the extension of insurance markets in aquaculture, and most farmers will have to rely on other means to manage risk.