Trends and tendencies in world aquaculture

In this blog, I generally list news neutrally, letting the reader make his own assessment and draw his own conclusions. Although most references I list describe the day-to-day activities of farmers worldwide, with the difficulties and challenges they met, I feel like some major trends and tendencies seem to emerge month after month from the news I compile, that might shape future aquaculture. These are some of them, as I perceive them today. It's not necessarily the truth, nor what I may perceive tomorrow, but maybe we can exchange views about them. Please consult previous posting on this blog for details, and feel free to contact me on Facebook or Twitter!

The new aquaculture frontiers

• High-tech offshore aquaculture technologies look fascinating (Aquapods, Ifremer, MIT etc.). Will it be possible possible to farm that large marine areas that are today desert ? But besides the technical excitement, what are the possible impacts and drawbacks of these new aquaculture chains, should they fulfill their promise ? There is a need for preparing the increase in importance of the sector, and the current debate about the new US marine aquaculture legislation is pioneer and could serve as an inspiration for other areas.
  

• Until recently, urban aquaculture technologies (such as aquaponics etc.) was for me some kind of a futurist gadget, but now that we have the obligation to be more efficient in term of energy consumption in our lifestyles and food production, I'm not surprised that it gains a lot of interest. Using waste urban energy sources to produce food looks like a good idea! That's definitely some kind aquaculture that might play a significant role in future food supply, at least in some areas.

• Can the fish farmer become a fish shepherd ? I found funny and interesting the experiment about taming aquaculture fish in the ocean, so that growing cages can be left open and animals can go foraging in the wild. I don't know yet what to think of it...
  

Market trends

• The debate about what is sustainable aquaculture has changed into what should be certified as sustainable. The Aquaculture dialogues promoted a consensus-building at a “market level”, mostly with large exporters and NGOs from consuming countries. Now , they need to guarantee that smaller producers are not excluded from the process. Other approaches were more based on the “aquaculture level”, but as a consequence, they lack the “voice of the client”. Moreover, they face the difficulty to adjust to the huge local diversity of worldwide aquaculture when using global indicators.
  

• The ecological footprint justification, but also several other factors, have promoted a new interest for local markets, with native (e.g. Boutique fish farms in Lake Victoria, Paraha peue in French Polynesia, Milkfish in the Philippines etc.) or exotic species (e.g. Pangasius in the Philippines, Tilapia in Pacific Community etc.)

• Will the fish wellbeing be the new object of fighting between northern and southern countries ? This area gains interest in Europe, which funds projects in this field and would like this to be mentioned about Pangasius.
  

Adapting to a changing world

• Achieving food security in 2030 is a new trend affecting aquaculture policies. In the Pacific Community, the SPC choice to develop tilapia farming is surprizing but interesting. Let's see how debate pushes through in the coming months/years...

• Adapting to climate change and mitigating its impact is also becoming more and more popular, but proposals still look superficial. Maybe it is a necessary step to raise consciousness of the industry and make serious work become possible in the future.

• Good quality freshwater is becoming scarce, and in some countries, such as the Philippines, there is a growing concern about preserving and recovering water resource (Manila bay, Laguna de Bay, Taal lake)

• Networking and SMEs seem to be the latest keywords of funding agencies and researchers, with some obvious success. African fish farming associations emerge, African aquaculture SME start operating. Will it finally permit to express the huge potential of Africa ?

• When it comes to networking, I am also very impressed by the numerous Asia-Africa partnerships in aquaculture: Guinea/ Korea, Kenya/Indonesia, Japan/Madagascar, Philippines/ Madagascar, Taiwan/Burkina Faso, China/Cape Verde, China/Uganda, China/South Africa, China/Africa roadmap etc.

• The debate about the new US catfish inspection scheme is the latest event is the Pangasius epic which highlights the coexistence difficulties of aquaculture chains in countries with different production cost levels. From a food safety point of view, the new inspection scheme probably goes in right direction, but it should not turn into a non-tariff trade barrier. Let's wait for the publication of the rules before making a balanced opinion...
  

• Will aquaculture provide future biofuels ?

• Is it just a coincidence or an in-depth tendency ? I noticed many mentions about rice-fish farming in the last weeks.