Understanding the role of socioeconomic and governance conditions in country-level marine aquaculture production

Abstract

Marine aquaculture (i.e. seafood farming in the ocean) has the potential to substantially support growing demand for animal protein. Despite vast amounts of suitable ocean space across the world, marine aquaculture development has been slow and geographically heterogeneous, indicating that factors other than suitable farming conditions are influencing industry growth. Using multivariate techniques, this study explores to what extent certain socioeconomic, governance, and biophysical factors can explain country-level patterns of mariculture production. We find that socioeconomic conditions are a significant contributor to whether a country produces mariculture and the magnitude of its production; our models explain up to 33% more of the variation in mariculture production compared to models including only biophysical parameters. These results are relatively consistent across types of mariculture production (i.e. finfish, crustaceans, molluscs, and algae). Our findings suggest that improving seafood farming infrastructure, creating local demand for seafood, and facilitating knowledge transfer from land-based and freshwater aquaculture could help countries develop stronger mariculture industries.

A global and regional view of the opportunity for climate-smart mariculture

“…Northern America and Europe exhibited higher rankings for human development, and so while threats from climate change exist, their capacity to withstand and respond to these threats may be greater. This result is consistent with the known importance of socio-economic factors in aquaculture, especially governance and regulation, which influence whether countries engage with mariculture and its sustainable development [49,50]. Using existing platforms of good governance to build momentum for global, regional and local applications to enhance industry or sector-wide transformative capacity could be a way to support industry and communities to move beyond solely coping strategies in response to climate change and engage more easily with adaptive and transformative approaches, which will increase resilience [30].…”

“…Regions and countries that are more prepared for or more capable of responding and adapting to the impacts of climate change will have better capacity to implement ongoing strategies in aquaculture production systems, which will reinforce improvements in resilience through positive change in the absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacity of a community [30]. Good governance and investment into infrastructure, knowledge and capacity can support effective, sustainable development [49,50]. We viewed these factors as 'enablers' of this opportunity, and therefore leverage.…”

Diverse state‐level marine aquaculture policy in the United States: Opportunities and barriers for industry development

“…seed/fingerlings, feed), local demand for farmed products and supportive industry organizations and financing institutions could all be important. 20,27,71 Aspects of governance beyond government policy, including social movements, market-based programmes and public-private partnerships, have enabled or inhibited industry development and expansion in many parts of the world. 72,73 Environmental nongovernmental organizations have played a particularly large role in sustainable seafood governance, leading sustainability initiatives, developing production standards and shaping public attitudes about aquaculture.…”

“…Research evaluating the temporal patterns of mariculture development worldwide found that the heterogeneity in country‐level mariculture production trajectories is explained in part using indicators such as regulatory quality and governance effectiveness 26 . In another global analysis, regulatory quality and the existence of spatial planning were shown to be associated with higher volumes of mariculture production for some farmed species 27 28 …”

Detrimental effects of microplastics in aquatic fauna on marine and freshwater environments – A comprehensive review

“…It is the cultivation (growing, rearing, breeding, and maintenance) and harvesting of algae, aquatic plants, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and other organisms in varied aquatic environments that include ponds, lakes, rivers, and estuaries [1,2]. Aquaculture has significant socioeconomic value [3][4][5]. The FAO reports that in 2018, the total export value of fish traded internationally was US $ 164 billion [6].…”