Aquaculture is the fastest growing food sector and the only way to meet an ever increasing demand for aquatic foods from a growing world population. It is therefore vital to steer this powerful, dynamic, and constantly evolving industry onto a path of sustainability for the sake of current and future generations.

The FAO Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture (GSA) are here to help: a set of shared and agreed principles and practices that all countries can use to transform their domestic aquaculture sectors while collectively building a future in which aquafarming will be synonymous with equitable livelihoods, restored ecosystems, climate resilience, and food security for all.

“The Guidelines were drafted through an eight-year consultative process at the request of FAO Members, who want a clear direction to develop sustainable aquaculture in line with Article 9 of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” says FAO Senior Aquaculture Officer Matthias Halwart. “Aligning the CCRF self-assessment with the Guidelines will provide the baseline for Members in the future, showing to what extent they are in compliance, where they need to do better, and where to look for support.”

About the workshop

Experts gathered from 8-10 May in Bangkok, Thailand, to hammer out proposed revisions to the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries Aquaculture Questionnaire (CCRF-AQ Questionnaire), which needs to be updated to reflect the GSA.

“The Questionnaire needs to be revised because the GSA cover some aspects that may not have been around when the CCRF was first endorsed in 1995 – for example, climate change mitigation, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), effluent management in small-scale aquaculture, and other emerging issues,” FAO Fisheries Officer Pierre Murekezi explains.

The goal of the workshop was to table and discuss any new issues, topics, or aspects that should be covered in the Questionnaire, and what kinds of questions would best elicit the information needed. A total of 16 experts from 13 countries around the world took part in this effort. The revised version of the Questionnaire will be submitted to FAO Members through National Focal Points for feedback, and after that to the next meeting of the FAO COFI Sub-Committee on Aquaculture to be held in April 2025 in Türkiye.

Experts from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Egypt, Jamaica, Nigeria, Oman, Thailand, Tunisia, Türkiye, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Viet Nam took part in the workshop, which was organized by FAO with technical and logistical support from the Centre for Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP).

About the Guidelines

The vision underlying the new Guidelines is of an aquaculture sector that contributes significantly to a world free from hunger and to the equitable improvement of the living standards of all actors in its value chains, including the poorest.

The Guidelines are global, voluntary, adaptable, and complementary to existing laws and regulations. They rest on the principles of sustainability, environmental stewardship, non-discrimination, the rule of law, equity and equality, participation, transparency, accountability, and the use of the Ecosystem Approach to Aquaculture (EAA).

Countries and stakeholders can use the Guidelines to advance towards more productive, efficient, resilient, climate-smart, and socially and environmentally responsible agrifood systems, in which aquaculture fulfils its potential to meet the increasing demand for safe, nutritious, accessible, and affordable aquatic foods for a global population that is expected to exceed nine billion by 2050.