Ecosystem Approach To Aquaculture Management

The ecosystem approach to aquaculture provides the conceptual guideline for spatial planning and management. This publication describes the major steps related to these activities. The rationale for and objectives of each step, the ways (methodologies) to implement it, and the means (tools) that are available to enable a methodology are described in a stepwise fashion. Recommendations to practitioners and policy-makers are provided. A separate policy brief accompanies this paper. The benefits from spatial planning and management are numerous and include higher productivity and returns for investors, and more effective mitigation of environmental, economic and social risks, the details of which are provided in this paper.

The Ecosystem approach to aquaculture mangament handbook aims to provide skills and tools to develop in stakeholders and facilitators the necessary know-how to develop an Ecosystem approach to aquaculture managment plans targeting sustainable and climate change resilient aquaculture. The handbook will provide the necessary knowledge on how to: manage aquaculture under holistic approaches; address aquaculture issues and challenges; apply Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management strategies reduce user group conflicts; work cooperatively with other stakeholders; empower communities towards political changes help unlock financial resources to implement plant The handbook also provides the information to understand the principles of EAAM, how to foster cross-sector coordination, how to develop, implement and monitor a plan by applying adaptive management, and will also practice the crucial skills of effective communication, facilitation, and conflict management.

"Sustainable use of aquatic ecosystems is high on regional, national and international agendas and central to the implementation of international agreements on biological diversity, responsible fisheries and fish stock management. Since 2001, when political commitments were made to implement the ecosystem approach, countries have begun to incorporate ecosystem considerations into their fisheries management and have met with varied success." "The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries covers both theoretical andapplied aspects of sustainable management, with a particular emphasis on reviewing concepts and addressing implementation issues in the form of case studies from around the world. Personal experiences are considered from diverse backgrounds and discuss the constraints encountered, strategies identified and best practices to facilitate further implementation."--BOOK JACKET.

This book provides a scientific forecast of development in aquaculture with a focus on the environmental, technological, social and economic constraints that need to be resolved to ensure sustainable development of the industry and allow the industry to be able to feed healthy seafood products to future generations. The chapters discuss the most critical bottlenecks of the development. They encompass subjects of understanding the environmental impacts, the current state-of-the-art in monitoring programs and in coastal zone management, the important interactions between wild and cultured organisms including release of non-native species into the wild.

Ecosystems are complex and dynamic natural units that produce goods and services beyond those of benefit to fisheries. Because fisheries have a direct impact on the ecosystem, which is also impacted by other human activities, they need to be managed in an ecosystem context. The meaning of the terms "ecosystem management", "ecosystem-based management", "ecosystem approach to fisheries" (EAF), etc., are still not universally defined and progressively evolving. The justification of EAF is evident in the characteristics of an exploited ecosystem and the impacts resulting from fisheries and other activities. The rich set of international agreements of relevance to EAF contains a large number of principles and conceptual objectives. Both provide a fundamental guidance and a significant challenge for the implementation of EAF. The available international instruments also provide the institutional foundations for EAF. The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries is particularly important in this respect and contains provisions for practically all aspects of the approach. One major difficulty in defining EAF lies precisely in turning the available concepts and principles into operational objectives from which an EAF management plan would more easily be developed. The paper discusses these together with the types of action needed to achieve them. Experience in EAF implementation is still limited but some issues are already apparent,e.g. in added complexity, insufficient capacity, slow implementation, need for a pragmatic approach, etc. It is argued, in conclusion, that the future of EAF and fisheries depends on the way in which the two fundamental concepts of fisheries management and ecosystem management, and their respective stakeholders, will join efforts or collide.

These guidelines have been produced to supplement the FAO code of conduct for responsible fisheries which was instituted in 1995. The main volume of guidelines were published in 1997 (Fisheries management - .B17514496).

An ecosystem approach to aquaculture is a strategy for the integration of the activity within the wider ecosystem such that it promotes sustainable development, equity and resilience of interlinked social-ecological systems. Being a strategy, the ecosystem approach to aquaculture (EAA) is not what is done, but rather how it is done. The main objective of the guidelines is to assist countries, institutions and policy-makers in the development and implementation of a strategy to ensure the sustainability of the aquaculture sector, integration of aquaculture with other sectors and its contribution to social and economic development.

520 Aquaculture growth worldwide involves the expansion of cultivated areas, a higher density of aquaculture installations and farmed individuals, and greater use of feed resources produced outside the immediate culture area. To ensure that such development of the sector does not carry negative impacts on the environment and on parts of society due to weak regulation or poor management, an ecosystem approach for aquaculture (EAA) is encouraged. These proceedings consider aspects relevant for an ecosystem-based management in aquaculture. The document also includes two comprehensive reviews covering the status of brackish, marine and freshwater aquaculture within an ecosystem approach perspective.--Publisher's description.