FAO FISHERIES PROCEEDINGS
9

Global Trade Conference
on Aquaculture

29–31 May 2007
Qingdao, China

Edited by
Richard Arthur
Consultant
FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department

and

Jochen Nierentz
Senior Officer
Fish Utilization and Marketing Service
Fish Products and Industry Division
FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department

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Table of Contents

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.

The views expressed in this information product are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of FAO.

Arthur, R.; Nierentz, J.(eds).
Global Trade Conference on Aquaculture. Qingdao, China, 29-31 May 2007.
FAO Fisheries Proceedings. No. 9. Rome, FAO. 2007. 271p.

ABSTRACT

These proceedings contain the manuscripts and summaries from the first Global Trade Conference on Aquaculture, held in Qingdao, China from 29 to 31 May 2007. A total of 23 papers (2 keynote presentations and 21 session presentations) and six abstracts are published, together with the programme and the opening and closing remarks.
The conference was organized by the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department in cooperation with the FISHINFONetwork. National preparation and the identification of speakers from the host country were the responsibility of INFOYU; international promotion was initiated by GLOBEFISH and INFOFISH, which was also in charge of the registration of international participants.
The conference was developed in five sessions. In the first session, “Aquaculture Growing Strength”, an overview on production and trade was followed by five commodity presentations showing the success in shrimp, salmon, tilapia, catfish and bivalve aquaculture.
The second session on “Challenges” highlighted the current and future challenges facing the sector. These included challenges related to assuring food safety in aquaculture products, maintaining and improving consumers’ perceptions of the quality and environmental acceptability of aquaculture, improving aquatic animal health management, addressing issues related to feed quality and availability, and improving the view investors take to assure economic and financial sustainability.
During the third session, the “Advantages and Opportunities” of aquaculture were covered by taking into account the globalization process and the requirements of processors and the food service and retail sectors, which all seem to have a preference for aquaculture products under special conditions. Seafood and health benefits, and the potential offered new species were seen as driving factors in the aquaculture sector. The opportunities and challenges for the small-scale fish farmers in Southeast Asia were also considered.
The fourth session was fully dedicated to the aquaculture sector in China, with presentations on the domestic market, the export potential, safety and quality inspection and China’s role in reprocessing seafood for re-export to the global market.
In the last session on “Progress – The Future”, the future developments expected for aquaculture were covered. Here the interaction between capture fisheries and aquaculture was analyzed and also presented in a case study on wild and aquacultured salmon. Aquaculture was viewed within the context of other intensive animal production systems. The enormous potential of the technical innovations in aquaculture compared to capture fisheries was highlighted under the term of “Blue revolution”. The last session was closed with a description of the political framework required to allow for the sustainable development of aquaculture.