Mariculture in the Asia-Pacific region: recent developments and new challenges

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1 Introduction 7 th Asian Fisheries Forum Symposium Mariculture in the Asia-Pacific region: recent developments and new challenges The Asia-Pacific region is the world s biggest producer of farmed marine products, and a major exporter and market for seafarming products. Further development of marine aquaculture in the region appears to be essential to contribute to future human demand for marine products, in the face of expanding human populations and stagnant or declining wild fisheries stocks. The development of mariculture though faces substantial challenges for all involved in research and development in the Asia-Pacific region, as highlighted in the attached Food for thought document. This special symposium being organised for the 7 th Asian Fisheries Forum Symposium will bring together the latest experiences on research and development of mariculture in the Asia-Pacific region, and discuss challenges and potential for its future development. Special attention will be given to new developments in mariculture technologies and farming systems, marketing chains and supply/demand issues, sustainable seafood production systems, including role and potential forintegrated seafarming in coastal ecosystems, mariculture and coastal area management, and the services and institutions required to support mariculture s future growth. Participation NACA will organize this special symposium on mariculture for the 7 th Asian Fisheries Forum in partnership with FAO, WFC, ACIAR, TDH and others. The session will be for one day and combine invited presentations together with topical mariculture papers submitted to the conference organizers. NACA extends the invitation to participate in this symposium to all researchers, the industry, professional associations as well as policy makers and administrators involved in farming the seas of the Asia-Pacific region. 1

2 We invite papers on all aspects related to the symposium theme such as the following topics: Marine farming systems and technological development, such as: Broodstock management and seed production systems for marine species Mariculture systems for marine fish, crustaceans, shellfish, gastropods, echinoderms and seaweeds Breeding and culture systems for marine ornamentals Capture and nursery of postlarvae and spat of fish, crustaceans and shellfish Breeding and culture systems for low-trophic chain fish species Management and enhancement of shellfish banks Regional experiences in integrated farming and marine polyculture systems Integration of mariculture into coastal areas, such as: Planning of mariculture development in coastal areas Environmental management of mariculture Mariculture and Marine Parks/Protected Ares Markets and mariculture, such as: Trends in regional demand and consumer preferences for mariculture commodities Comparative evolution of inland aquaculture and mariculture supplies on major regional urban markets Trends in the functions, standards and rules of access in regional markets Trends in the regional evolution of marketing systems for mariculture products Trends in the regional structure of mariculture industries Services and institutions for mariculture, such as: Regional experiences in development of service systems for mariculture industries Regional experiences in development of professional associations in mariculture industries Regional experiences in tackling social aspects and poverty reduction through mariculture For further information contact: Dr Michael Phillips or Mr Sih Yang Sim Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific Suraswadi Building, Department of Fisheries Kasetsart University Campus, Ladyao, Jatujak Bangkok 10900, Thailand Fax: Web: 2

3 Food for thought for mariculture development in the Asia-Pacific region: a Conceptual Framework for the Special Symposium 1 The Asia-Pacific region will lead in the coming decades the exponential increase in the world demand for seafood proteins. Demographic pressure, industrialization, expanding urbanization and increasing disposable income will deeply reshape the regional demand not only in volume but also in changing consumption patterns. These developments will mostly occur in coastal zones already densely populated and intensively used by various economic sectors. It will prove impossible to match the rise in demand with conventional systems of marine resources extraction: the regional resource base is already severely eroded by over-invested fisheries struggling with decreasing rents in conflictual social scenarios. Many countries, once seafood-safe net exporters, are progressively becoming net importers although this shift may be masked by their international trade ranking as export hubs of re-processed seafood. Aquaculture should in theory fill the gap. During the last decade the production of cultured seafood has in fact increased more than any other terrestrial meat and the Asia-Pacific region ranks as a major world player. However, the sector is increasingly confronted with a host of in-built bottlenecks. Much of this growth has been achieved through the rapid adoption by (inland and coastal) land-based aquaculture systems of highinput mono-cultural paths typical of industrial agriculture, with its associated costs and risks. Large input providers are naturally becoming the main players, setting the orientation of research, technological development and marketing. Small-scale farmers, once a traditional Asian trademark, risk progressively loosing out in an increasingly competitive environment or are absorbed as bonded suppliers into large-scale vertically integrated ventures better equipped to face the challenges posed by the reshaping of rules and standards in the international trade. The structural changes occurring in the post-bird flu poultry industry in Asia bear significant implications for the regional aquaculture sector. Aquaculture at this near-mature stage cannot escape increasing scrutiny of its overall economic, environmental and social performance. The interactions of aquaculture with its resource base are increasingly compared with the extractive patterns of fisheries, focusing the attention on the hidden costs of externalities and the overall balance between actual outputs and inputs of biomass and energy. The sustainability of farming systems is questioned, forcing more realistic re-appraisals of the potential for further expansion. Land-based aquaculture is expected to face in most countries in the region an uphill struggle with competing economic sectors for access to limiting land and water resources. On the other side, in the attempt to bridge the gap between traditional low-input systems of limited productivity and high-yield 1 This background conceptual framework was prepared in cooperation with Terres Des Hommes, Italy, a collaborator of NACA and DOF, Thailand in coastal seafarming in Thailand. 3

4 systems of critical sustainability, a growing research focus is being directed towards methods more informed by resource productivity concepts such as Integrated Agriculture Aquaculture Systems (IAAS) or Partitioned Aquaculture Systems (PAS). The Asia-Pacific region is also the world s biggest mariculture producer for a wide range of commodities including seaweeds, shellfish, gastropods, echinoderms, fish and crustaceans. During the last decade the growth of this sector has been substantial but characterized by sharp differences in the relative share of the overall production among sub-regions and of the relative share of the total volume among commodities. East Asia accounts for most of the total volume, with an overwhelming contribution from seaweeds and shellfish plus some important fish productions. On the other hand, with the exception of seaweeds in a few countries, S.E.Asian productions are limited in both overall volume and type of commodities. In the Pacific, with the exception of locally important pearl oyster farming, they are virtually inexistent. On a regional scale, there is clearly no correlation between the present (however significant) output and the territorial expanse and potential of the resource base (productivity & biodiversity of coastal ecosystems). The physical constraints potentially limiting land-based aquaculture are much less relevant in a regional mariculture context. The research and development effort has also led in recent years to significant breakthroughs in the controlled breeding and culture of a wide range of species. However, only a fraction of this base knowledge has apparently been translated into efficient farming systems and actual production, and only in a fraction of the available space. A major bottleneck might be represented by a conceptual approach to the culture process as a linear commodity-driven stand-alone operation of animal husbandry, whether with shellfish, seaweeds, crabs or fish. In most cases, mariculture production follows mono-cultural models derived from land-based animal husbandry and intensive aquaculture. Little inputs are being derived from the knowledge base accumulated in recent years by a parallel and equally important research on ecological processes, biodiversity assemblages and trophodynamic interactions structuring marine coastal ecosystems. This approach cannot fully grasp the complexity of ecological interactions in the seafarming environment and the opportunities for their sustainable development. Little research and development effort is apparently focused on innovative seafarming systems of integrated mariculture along dynamics comparable to current developments in land-based IAAS and PAS. The most evident example is fish cage culture with its dominant focus on intensive feedbased mono-species systems for top carnivores, which are increasingly becoming the target of sustainability scrutiny. This approach cannot also fully grasp the opportunities deriving from a reviewed role of mariculture in a regional fisheries management context. The expansion of land-based aquaculture productions can be explained only in an enabling context of specific synergies (land allocation, crop seasonality, labor allocation, farming logistics, marketing networks) within the agriculture sector. 4

5 The valorization of comparable synergies specific to coastal fisheries scenarios in the region, characterized by peculiar socio-economics, logistics and marketing systems, should prove an equally decisive development tool. In a regional perspective it might prove socially vital and economically essential to avoid the salmon trap of economies of scale, high-risk for largescale ventures and un-manageable in a small-scale context. Alternatives should be explored in the direction of the economies of scope, which could be generated through seafarming (i.e. integrated fisheries-mariculture) valorization of the biodiversity and productivity of tropical coastal ecosystems. Progressing beyond the hunting-gathering trap implies innovative aquatic production systems blending managed fisheries and resource-efficient mariculture tailored on the ecological and trophodynamic profile of the reference seascapes. The multi-trophic integration of fish, shellfish, gastropods, crustaceans, seaweeds, echinoderms and other invertebrates (for human consumption and the marine ornamentals market) would valorize sitespecific resources productivity potential, adapting energy-recycling models in a marine environment and optimizing the use of the local biodiversity. The associated challenge is the development of systems of services needed to nurse a new entrepreneurial approach within the social fabric of traditional small-scale communities, fishing ventures and local businesses, supporting the emergence of self-reliant professional associations aware of the ecological, technological and marketing opportunities and able to manage innovation by adapting the existing knowledge base into locally viable, sustainable production systems. 5