This document identifies elements of a legislation that will encourage the emergence of a sustainable commercial aquaculture. The aquaculture law of an individual country must provide the operator with a secure right to conduct aquaculture operations, to the property on which the farm will be located, to good quality water and to the produce. It must also ensure environmental sustainability, through permit or licence systems, without imposing unnecessary costs on applicants. Only proposals with the potential for serious environmental harm should be subjected to a full environmental impact assessment. Environmental supervision must extend to controls over the use of exotic species and products from modern biotechnology including genetically modified organisms, disease control and health management and to any water quality concerns created by the proposed project. To minimise costs, countries are encouraged to adopt a single window approach for the numerous approvals usually required for an aquaculture operation and screen initial applications. They could also consider creating a single agency to promote aquaculture and to monitor the progress of applications. Aquaculture regimes of selected African countries are measured against the elements required to encourage sustainable commercial aquaculture, and improvements that are applicable to all countries in sub-Sahara are suggested.
