World Aquaculture Magazine - March 2021

WWW.WA S .ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • MARCH 2021 29 e.g., agriculture and industry, but it does not take place in isolation. There are many opportunities to couple aquaculture activities with other primary producing sectors to promote materials and energy recycling and the better use of resources in general. Applying an Ecological Aquaculture Approach at Different Scales of Society Planning for and assessing progress toward an ecosystem approach to aquaculture was determined to be important to society at three scales: farm, watershed/aquaculture and global. FarmScale Planning for aquaculture farms is easily de ned physically and could extend only a fewmeters beyond the boundaries of farming structures; however, the increasing size and intensity of some farms could affect an entire water body or watershed. Assessment of an EAA at the farm scale entails an evaluation of planning and implementation of “triple bottom line” programs — ecological, economic, and social programs — in a comprehensive manner, using best management practices and the use of restoration, remediation and mitigation methods. Proper site selection, levels of production intensity, use of species (exotic vs. native), use of appropriate farming systems technologies and knowledge of economic and social impacts at the farm level should be considered. For fed aquaculture, there are wide differences in scale and growth. Aquaculture development models are being modi ed rapidly by bioengineering, feed, processing and other advances that challenge the concepts of ecological aquaculture. On the other hand, with current trends projected to 2050, large-scale aquaculture could move fully toward ecological aquaculture approaches (Costa-Pierce 2008) as they move to embrace the pathways of “industrial ecology” (Kapur and Graedel 2004). Watershed/Aquaculture Scale Planning for an EAA at a watershed/aquaculture scale is relevant to common ecosystem and social issues such as diseases, trade in seed and feeds, climatic and landscape conditions and urban/rural development. Assessment of an EAA at this scale is a two-phase process and includes: Phase I assessments of inclusion of aquaculture as a part of regional governance frameworks, e.g., the overall framework of integrated coastal zone management or integrated watershed, land-water resource management planning and implementation. Assessments take into account existing scenarios, user competition, con icts for land and water uses and comparisons of alternatives for human development; impacts of aquaculture on regional issues such as escapees, disease transmission and sources of contamination to/from aquaculture; social considerations such as comprehensive planning for all of the possible bene cial multiplier effects of aquaculture on jobs and the regional economy and considerations of aquaculture’s impacts on indigenous communities. Phase II charts progress toward a full implementation of an EAA at watershed/ aquaculture scale and is assessed by measuring the abilities of governments to implement newmethods of coastal and water governance to include ecological aquaculture in the: 1) Development of ecological aquaculture approaches that allow the agencies responsible for permitting aquaculture to consider and manage activities impacting aquaculture and ocean/aquatic ecosystems more holistically (e.g., capture sheries, coastal zone development, watershed management organizations, agriculture, forestry, and industrial developments), such as newmechanisms to communicate, cooperate and collaborate across sectors; 2) Design of ecological aquaculture management zones and parks that encourage aquaculture education, research and development innovations and partnerships, and also emphasize streamlined permitting of integrated aquaculture, polyculture or innovative, ecologically designed, integrated aquaculture- sheries businesses and initiatives. Global Scale Planning for an EAA at a global scale considers aspects of transnational and multinational issues for global commodities (e.g., tilapia, salmon, shrimp, etc.). Assessment of progress toward an EAA at the global scale entails evaluation of issues such as availabilities of sheries and agriculture feedstocks for formulating aquaculture feeds and these impacts on distant marine and social ecosystems, economic and social impacts of aquaculture on sheries and agriculture resources, impacts of aquaculture on markets and impacts of globalization on social sustainability (social capital, goods and social opportunities). Applications of tools such as lifecycle assessments of aquaculture commodities and other tools that use innovative social enterprise management guidelines are useful to determine impacts at the global scale (Costa-Pierce and Page 2012). Progress Towards Adoption of the EAA Guidelines Brugere et al. (2018) reviewed progress towards adoption of the EAA guidelines in the ten years since their release by the FAO. Their assessment found that the uptake of the EAAwas “relatively low.” The EAAwas not playing its anticipated roles in guiding the work, ( C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 3 0 ) FIGURE 4. Participants of the FAOWorkshop “Building an Ecosystem Approach to Aquaculture,” Palma de Mallorca, Spain, May 7-11, 2007. From L to R, first row: John Hambrey, Doris Soto, Salud Deudero, Ricardo Norambuena, Jorge Bermudez, Nathanael Hishamunda, Shirra Freeman. From L to R, second row: José Aguilar-Manjarrez, Bill Silvert, Peter Edwards, Dror Angel, Thierry Chopin, Kenny Black, Alexander Weinberg, Barry Costa- Pierce, Conner Bailey, Francois Simard, Duncan Knowler, Max Troell, Syndhia Mathe, Paul Tett.