Species And System Selection For Sustainable Aquaculture

Published in Cooperation with THE UNITED STATES AQUACULTURE SOCIETY As aquaculture production continues to grow and develop there is a continuous search for new species to culture to be able to fully exploit new national and international markets. Species selection for aquaculture development often poses an enormous challenge for decision makers who must decide which species and culture technologies to support with public resources, and then how best to divide those resources. Species and System Selection for Sustainable Aquaculture brings together contributions from international experts with experience in identifying potential species and production systems for sustainable aquaculture with a socioeconomic focus. The book is divided into three sections: Principles, Practices, and Species-Specific Public Policy for Sustainable Development. An outgrowth of a workshop held as part of the Aquaculture Interchange Program with examples from around the globe carefully edited by PingSun Leung, Pat O'Bryen, and Cheng-Sheng Lee this volume will be an important reference for all researchers, professionals, economists, and policy-makers involved in selecting new species for the development of sustainable aquaculture.

Aquaculture Ecosystems contains a thorough and exciting synthesis of current information on aquaculture practices and substantial discussion of the way forward in transforming the aquaculture industry by improving its sustainability. This important book includes discussion of all the current major issues relating to aquaculture practices in relation to the ecology of their situations, environmental concerns, and details of how sustainability can be improved. Efforts have been made to include chapters that go beyond the stage of debate on old topics, providing conclusions to provide leads for action plans and practices addressing modern challenges such as global climate change. Commencing with a chapter covering concerns and solutions centred around seafood security, the following chapters cover the biology and behavior of aquatic animals and their selection for use in aquaculture systems, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, nutrient inputs and pollution, biofouling, blue carbon stocks in coastal aquaculture, climate change adaptations and knowledge management in aquaculture. Written by internationally-recognized experts in aquaculture and ecology, and edited by Saleem Mustafa, well known for his work in aquatic sciences, the book provides a great deal of use and interest to all those involved in aquaculture planning and development, environmental sciences and aquatic ecology. All libraries in universities and research establishments where biological sciences and aquaculture are studied and taught should have copies of this vital reference on their shelves.

While diversified aquaculture could reduce both biological and financial risks, the private sector may lack incentives to diversify the species composition of aquaculture production because developing or adopting new species tends to be costly and risky. Conversely, concentrating on the most efficient species can benefit from economies of scale in both production and marketing. With ever-growing concerns over climate change, disease outbreaks, market fluctuations and other uncertainties, species diversification has become an increasingly prominent strategy for sustainable aquaculture development. Policy and planning on species diversification require a holistic, sector-wide perspective to assess the overall prospect of individually promising species that may not be entirely successful when competing for limited resources and markets. The historical experiences of species diversification in global aquaculture can provide guidance for the assessment. This paper develops a benchmarking system to examine species diversification patterns in around 200 countries for three decades to generate information and insights in support of evidence-based policy and planning in aquaculture development. The system uses “effective number of species” (ENS) as a diversity measure that is essentially equivalent to, yet more intuitive than, the widely used Shannon Index. A statistical model is established to estimate a benchmark ENS for each country and construct a benchmarking species diversification index (BSDI) to compare a country’s species diversification with global experiences. Key results are presented and discussed in the main text; and more comprehensive results are documented in Appendix II. The benchmarking system can be used in foresight analyses to help design or refine future production targets (including species composition) in policy and planning for aquaculture development; an example is provided in Appendix I to help practitioners better understand and utilize the system.

"Ecological Aquaculture" offers a design framework for successful ecological aquaculture in all but the most extreme climates and regions. The systems described are not wasteful or polluting; they are self-sustaining.While primarily aimed at people with a freshwater resource who want to make use of it in a sustainable way, "Ecological Aquaculture" is also a work of groundbreaking ideas and practices for those interested in environmental management and aquatic ecosystem enhancement and repair. It serves as a reference work for academic research and a practical guide for planning authorities and conservation programs. The book includes two AIDGAP freshwater identification guides.

This comprehensive, up-to-date text delivers the latest must-have information on species new to aquaculture and documents the most important technological innovations of the past decade. Every aspect of the growing field has been addressed with coverage spanning recent technological development, new species, recent changes and global trends. More specifically, you will find information on the culture of species such as barramundi, cobia, dolphin fish, spiny lobsters, slipper lobsters, mud crabs, penaeid prawns, Nile tilapia, yellow king fish, abalone, sea cucumber and sea urchin, seaweed, ornamentals and Indian major carps, fugu, mud skippers, cephalopods and blue fin tuna. The technological innovations and introduction of new species into aquaculture are critical to the evolution of the global aquaculture industry; an industry which is rapidly becoming one of the fastest growing in the world, having experienced huge advances across its many and diverse facets. Recent Advances and New Species in Aquaculture focuses explicitly on the ever-changing face of aquaculture, providing core scientific and commercially useful information on the remarkable growth in aquaculture production and in the advancement of new technological tools. Written by many well respected international figures and drawn together and edited by Ravi Fotedar & Bruce Phillips, this exciting book is an essential purchase for anyone involved in or about to enter into the aquaculture industry. Libraries in all universities and research establishments where aquaculture, fish biology, aquatic and environmental sciences and fisheries are studied and taught will find this an important addition to their shelves. Recent Advances and New Species in Aquaculture is sure to become a key companion for all those studying aquaculture and a valuable source of reference for all personnel involved in the industry.

This book examines the legality, adequacy and efficacy of using the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for commercially-exploited fish species and assesses whether the existing institutional cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) is efficient. This case-study also provides an interesting lens to approaching wider international law issues. Indeed, finding ways to achieve effective governance of transboundary or global natural resources is central to the peaceful use of oceans and land. Furthermore, the role of science in advising decision-makers is a sensitive issue, which deserves scrutiny and is similar in many regimes. Finally, the complex problem of fragmentation of international law is acute in various fields of environmental law, as in all rapidly developing areas of international regulations.

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.