Jia, J., Wijkstrom, U., Subasinghe, R.P. & Barg, U. 2001. Aquaculture development
beyond 2000: global prospects, Keynote Address II. In R.P. Subasinghe, P. Bueno,
M.J. Phillips, C. Hough, S.E. McGladdery & J.R. Arthur, eds. Aquaculture
in the Third Millennium. Technical Proceedings of the Conference on Aquaculture
in the Third Millennium, Bangkok, Thailand, 20-25 February 2000. pp. 9-12. NACA,
Bangkok and FAO, Rome.
ABSTRACT: Over the past three decades, aquaculture has developed
to become the fastest growing food production sector in the world; it has expanded,
diversified, intensified and technologically advanced. Its potential contribution
to local food security and livelihoods can be very significant, especially in
remote and resource-poor areas. To attain its full potential to contribute to
human development and social empowerment, the aquaculture sector may require
new approaches. These could vary with countries, and the challenge is to develop
approaches that are realistic and achievable in the context of current social,
economic, environmental and political circumstances. Such approaches should
not only focus on increasing production; they should focus on producing a product
that is affordable, acceptable and accessible to all sectors of society. The
concerns and needs to be addressed will include increasing the emphasis on aquaculture
and aquafarmers in national development plans to enhance institutional and financial
support to the sector; providing an enabling environment with appropriate policy,
legal and institutional framework to facilitate access to key development resources
such as money and knowledge; stimulating investments in aquaculture development;
producing products in the acceptable manner for specific consumer preferences
and complementing the efforts of other food production sectors; involving the
participation of all stakeholders in decision making and policy planning; and
broad and closer cooperation among stakeholders, countries and regions. In sum,
the prospects for aquaculture development are bright and envisaged expectations
are achievable. Their achievement can be ensured by creating the appropriate
environments for improved support to producers, enhanced participation, strengthened
networking, better information and regional and global cooperation.
KEY WORDS: Aquaculture development, Global trends, Regional trends, Future outlook, Sustainable aquaculture.
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Professor Sena De Silva and Dr Laszlo Varadi Joint
Chairpersons, Members of the Panel,
Fellow Participants. It is my pleasure to be here today, at this Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium, to deliver this Second Keynote Address entitled Aquaculture Beyond 2000: Global Prospects. During the last Keynote Address, Dr. Pillay elaborated the journey from Kyoto to Bangkok. Dr. Subasinghes Introduction covered the scope and purpose of the Conference. In my Keynote, I do not intend to provide you with a detailed analysis of specific trends in the aquaculture sector. They will be covered by the regional and global trends reviews and the thematic reviews that will be presented over the next few days. Rather, in this Keynote Address, I will attempt to look at some broad global trends, key issues and constraints, and important challenges and development prospects for the future, in realising the full potential of aquaculture for humankind. I would like you to debate, discuss and consider these Food for Thought ideas over the next few days, in order to achieve our objectives of the Conference. In my presentation, I attempt to cover, briefly, within the given 25 minutes or so, the following:
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Thus, this sector contributes to food security, poverty alleviation
and social well-being in many countries. The contributions of aquaculture
to trade, both local and international, have increased over the past decades,
and its share in the generation of income and employment for national economic
development has increased in many countries.
The world population is on the increase, as is the demand for aquatic food products. Production from capture fisheries at a global level is levelling off, and most of the main fishing areas have reached their maximum potential. Global fish supply could be increased through reduction of discards and better use of by-catch for human consumption, e.g. use of at least part of the catch now going for reduction to fishmeal and fish oils. Better management of fishery resources and enhanced efforts to protect fishery resources from accelerating environmental degradation, particularly in inland waters and estuaries, may well contribute to sustained, if not enhanced, fish supplies in the medium to long term. However, aquaculture appears to have stronger potential to meet the increasing demands for aquatic products in most regions of the world. Potential contributions from aquaculture to local food security and livelihoods can be highly significant, especially in many remote and resource-poor rural areas. However, it appears that the full potential of the aquaculture sector to contribute to human development and social empowerment is yet to be realized, and the sector may require new approaches to realize its goals beyond 2000. These approaches will undoubtedly differ between different countries, and depend on country-specific circumstances and national development plans, goals and aspirations. The challenge is to develop such approaches, which are realistic and achievable, within the context of current social, economic, environmental and political circumstances. Such approaches should not focus only on increasing production; they should also focus on producing a product that is affordable, acceptable and accessible to all sectors of society.
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Aquaculture is an income-generating activity. However, rapid
sector growth has, in some instances, outstripped planning and regulatory
activities. As a result, many areas have seen a regulatory rebound, with
disproportionate requirements as resource use conflicts have occurred, resource
scarcities have become more constraining, and demand for product quality
and safety has increased significantly. Increasingly, some markets will
consider additional product attributes, like environmental and social impacts
of production. It may be necessary to redefine and/or reassess the respective
roles of government and private sector, including producers associations
and organizations, in managing aquaculture development.
In some regions, aquaculture faces a considerable problem with public perception. Yes, in some cases, aquaculture development has failed to keep up with, or meet, many environmental and socio-economic issues and expectations. Future aquaculture development needs to produce a product that is not only acceptable to the public and consumers in terms of price, quality and safety, but also in terms of environmental cost.
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The essential challenge for future aquaculture development
will be to ensure that the full potential of aquaculture is realized, and
that a nutritious, safe, high-quality product that is affordable, acceptable
and accessible to all sectors of society, is produced. In doing so, we need
to address the following needs and opportunities. We have to assist in feeding
people in this millennium. This means investing in food security. Aquaculture
can play a significant role in this respect.
We have to assist in social development, poverty alleviation and improving the livelihoods of people. In doing so, there is a need to increase emphasis on aquaculture and aqua-farmers in national social and economic development plans, with the view to enhance institutional and financial support for the sector. This can only be achieved through investing in human resources, including existing and future aquaculture practitioners, as well as government and non-government agencies and institutions. Investing in training, education, extension, information and communication are important in this respect. Use of modern information and communication tools and methods such as the Internet and other state-of-the-art communication methodologies will have to be given due consideration, as will the essential requirement to ensure broad-based public access, especially for farmers, to these sources of information. We must create and provide an enabling environment, with appropriate policy and legal and institutional frameworks to facilitate access to key development resources, such as financial resources and knowledge. There is a strong need for greater emphasis on institutional support, that is, support not only to government ministries and public-sector agencies dealing with administration, extension and research and development, but also to organizations and institutions representing the private sector, consumers and other stakeholders. Aquaculture development, especially if it is to be sustainable for food security goals, may need to be stimulated, at least in the beginning, so there should be a key point on increasing access to credit for farmers, producers and local marketing. It is important to understand the investment opportunities in the sector. In an era of globalization, it is imperative to emphasize national and international trends of trade. Trade of aquaculture produce, input supplies, capital and information are all important to mention and acknowledge. |
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Aquaculture is dependent on key natural resources such as
water, land, seed and nutrients. There is strong pressure for production
and marketing systems that are more efficient and more effective in terms
of resource utilization. In this respect, we should invest in research on
developing production and marketing systems with better resource utilization
and more efficient performances.
During production, there should be emphasis on targeting the consumers. We must emphasize the difference between mass production and production for the masses. For example, formerly expensive produce such as salmon and shrimp are increasingly becoming affordable to larger segments of the population. We should compete with, and complement, other food-producing sectors and providers. Aquaculture produce should be acceptable to all sectors of society. Tremendous gains will be possible through improved biotechnology, genetic modification, improved nutrition, probiotics, and disease diagnosis and treatment. However, the problem of consumer resistance to perceived risks stemming from unnatural products, ethical problems and fear of unknown technologies will affect potential gain. Environmental and human health issues will slow development or reduce market access. Strategic solutions are required. We should emphasize biosafety issues, development and promotion of biotechnology that conserve the environment. We should promote policies that support ethical issues of welfare and autonomy, and emphasize labelling and transparency for production process and beneficiaries. There is a need to increase the impact of research to understand technical and other constraints and to enhance the applicability and use of research results in the development of strategies to overcome these challenges. |
Stakeholder participation and consultation in decision-making
and policy planning for aquaculture development should be duly considered.
Aquacultures potential for social empowerment should be harnessed,
and the involvement of more women in aquaculture development should be given
due respect. Trust between producers and consumers needs to be improved,
and avenues must be found to achieve this. Public relations campaigns and
labelling issues will have to be addressed. The role of regional and interregional
cooperation in achieving the future development goals for aquaculture should
be reviewed and strengthened. There are considerable opportunities to increase
the impact on aquaculture development through continued regional and interregional
cooperation. As agreed in 1995 by our Member Governments, in particular
through the implementation of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries
(CCRF), further strengthening of such cooperation is highly recommended.
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1 This presentation did not intend to provide a detailed analysis
of specific trends in the aquaculture sector. Instead, it attempted to look
at some broad global trends, key issues and constraints, important challenges
and development prospects for realising the full potential of aquaculture. These
ideas or Food for Thought were debated, discussed and considered
during the Conference. The views expressed in this manuscript are personal to
the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
2 The Keynote Address was delivered by Mr. Jiansan Jia. [email protected]
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