The guide Best Practices for Aquaculture Management has been released today and is available online.(Photo: The guide)

SFP, Conservation International, and UCSB release new best practices for aquaculture management guide

INDONESIA
Wednesday, November 14, 2018, 21:10 (GMT + 9)

A new aquaculture management guide from Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), Conservation International, and the University of California Santa Barbara’s Sustainable Fisheries Group provides zonal management best practices for seafood farmers seeking the most environmentally sustainable operations. The guide – Best Practices for Aquaculture Management: guidance for implementing the ecosystem approach in Indonesia and beyond – was released today and is available online.

Photo: Aquaculture Management Guide

The guide provides three best practices in aquaculture management, as suggested by the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Ecosystem Approach to Aquaculture: 1) spatial planning and zoning, 2) waterbody carrying capacity limits, and 3) aquaculture disease management areas. The guidance applies to seafood farming worldwide and uses Indonesia – a major aquaculture producer with ambitious aquaculture development goals – as a case study for implementation.

Photo: Aquaculture Management Guide

“Typically, aquaculture development and management have largely focused on siting, licensing, and monitoring at the farm level,” the guide’s authors wrote in an executive summary. “This perspective fails to acknowledge that aquaculture industries are dependent on public resources (namely water and space) and are tightly coupled to the surrounding ecosystems in which they operate. Even if a farm is operating at the highest level of performance, it is at risk if neighboring farms or industries have poor environmental practices.”

          Photo: Aquaculture Management Guide

The guide includes actionable recommendations for both industry and government institutions that set policies in aquaculture producing areas. In particular, supply chain stakeholders are encouraged to work more closely with farmers and governments to initiate and support coordinated management practices to reduce environmental impacts and disease risks.

Photo: Project partners of  the Aquaculture Management Guide

The guide has already been well-received in Indonesia. Yudi Nurul Ihsan, Ph.D, Dean of the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences of Padjajaran University and a contributor to the guide, said that this guide could be used as a model for fisheries development into the future.

        Photo: Aquaculture Management Guide

"Aquaculture will save Indonesia's national economy as well as the local economy because it absorbs labor, alleviates poverty and supports Indonesia's food security,” Yudi said.

“SFP has been promoting a zonal approach to aquaculture for more than five years,” said Anton Immink, SFP’s Aquaculture Director. “This guide is a new way of not only sharing the importance of zonal management, but also providing clear, actionable recommendations for implementation.”

“This guide gives companies like ours and governments of major aquaculture producers concrete scientific advice on what we need to improve with aquaculture producers and regulators,” said Bill DiMento ,Vice President Corporate Sustainability and Government Affairs at High Liner Foods.

editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media

Print