“…Over the course of the last years, it became evident that the "social license to operate, " reflecting continuous acceptance, is a central item in the future development of the aquaculture sector (SAPEA, 2017). Indeed, aquaculture offers a variety of socio-economic benefits through the supply of highly nutritious foods and commercially valuable products, providing jobs and creating income, especially in remote areas (FAO, 2012(FAO, , 2014ICES, 2012;Krause et al, 2015). For instance, it could be observed in South Africa that the employment of a large number of unskilled and semi-skilled personnel in the aquaculture sector had a large local socio-economic positive impact in coastal communities with traditionally high-unemployment rates (Troell et al, 2006;Nobre et al, 2010).…”