Freshwater Aquaculture Development in EU and Latin-America: Insight on Production Trends and Resource Endowments

Abstract

This paper provides a comparative overview of decadal changes in aquaculture production in the European Union (EU-27) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Contrary to other regions of the world, freshwater fish farming in these two territories is a marginal sub-segment of the aquaculture sector. Using an indicator-based approach, we track development tendencies in freshwater aquaculture, focusing on the main established and emerging species, diversification, and shifts in the mean trophic level of farmed animals. Geographical patterns in production trends are revealed in both regions. The study attempts to explain between-region and between-country differences in aquaculture growth by analyzing freshwater resource endowments at region-level and country-level, using total renewable water resources (TRWR) as an indicator of water-abundancy. Thermal optimum of main produced species is matched against climate conditions prevailing in main producer countries to provide further understanding of spatial heterogeneity in growth rates of aquaculture sector.

A Review of Sustainable Pillars and their Fulfillment in Agriculture, Aquaculture, and Aquaponic Production

“…Aquaculture is a water-intensive food production system, with a high usage of freshwater [143], which creates a high water footprint for aquatic animal production [144]. Furthermore, aquaculture food production has a high environmental impact, due to the hydric discharge of wastewater concentrations of organic, inorganic, and microalgae into the environment [145]; without a nutrient eradication process, this causes the eutrophication of natural aquifers [146].…”