Jade statue of a Chinese dragon fish, dating back to the Ming dynasty.

Global aquaculture currently accounts for 25% of fish consumption and reportedly doubled in weight and output between 1992 and 2001. Most of the farmed species are low in the food web, such as plant- and detritus-eating or filter-feeding carps, bivalves and tilapias. More than 80% of global aquaculture production is in China, and almost 90% in the whole of Asia. These species often used to be grown in polyculture making use of natural productivity and different components of the ecosystem. Their value on international markets tended to be modest. Conversely, the increasing culture of carnivore species, such as salmon, shrimp, seabass, etc., requiring fish meals and oils from capture fisheries for feed, is currently driven by high prices for these commodities. Unless ecosystem restoration reverts downward trends in capture fisheries, a simple extrapolation of demand from international trade would lead to expectations of continued expansion of aquaculture. Like fishing, however, some types of aquaculture already have to grapple with degradation of environmental quality. In addition, trade-accelerated species transfer and poor farm practices have increased disease and the unwise use of antibiotics. One of the major challenges for the industry is not only to internalise its environmental costs ('zero-discharge' aquaculture), but also to rebuild consumer confidence in food safety and farming practices. The Commission supports good governance, such as appropriate social and economic incentives, to minimise negative impacts and to promote good quality aquafood and sustainable livelihoods.

Early fish culture systems

Aquaculture began thousands of years ago in China, the Indus and Nile valley civilisations. Early systems cultured mainly freshwater fish, but also managed beds of oysters, clams and other bivalves, relying upon natural productivity, and involving intelligent use of Aquatic Ecosystems, providing energy efficiency by 'culturing down food webs'. This farming of 'low-level' organisms (e.g. herbivorous mullet or carp) keeps the energy transfer routes through the food web short.

Aquaculture today - the new frontier

According to FAO, China today supplies perhaps as much as 89% of world aquaculture harvest by tonnage, making it by far the world's biggest producer. Production is still mostly 'low-tech' and rather labour-intensive, but this is changing rapidly under the impetus of the economic policy initiated since the mid-80s, with large volumes of a variety of high-value species, including carnivores, being produced for international markets. In contrast, labour?short Europe, Japan and other countries have taken the 'high-tech' route of intensive culture. Carnivorous fish are among the favoured cultured species, although they now require more than 60% of fishmeal produced globally. On the plus side, these countries have advanced technologies for controlling negative discharges, in particular nutrients, antibiotics and pathogenic organisms.

Farming practices to secure on-farm animal health, water quality from take-in to discharge, food and feeding are among the key concerns in an industry dominated by small to medium-sized undertakings and working mainly with non-domesticated animals. In addition, over the last few years, trade and food safety related issues have played a major role in influencing strategies developed in the industry to ensure buyers' confidence in important marketing outlets and consumer satisfaction. Organising producers, developing codes of practice and putting into effect the principles accepted in the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries has thus become a major challenge for the future. The industry is slowly coming of age under the new conditions of international and regional markets and is expected to play a continued, if not growing role in supplying healthy and reasonably priced food. Among the INCO research collaborations supporting these positive trends is a recently begun collaboration between four Chinese and five European research teams on 'New native fish species for Asian aquaculture: conserving natural genetic reserves and increasing options for sustainable use of aquatic resources'.

Good practice examples

The potential of periphyton-based aquaculture systems in South Asia
The majority of Asian aquaculture producers are smallholders, or in cases of communal waters, even land-less farmers. Better integration between various resources available on the farm and optimisation of natural productivity of food webs is essential to improve on-farm efficiency. A research team comprising two partners from East Asia and two from Europe has focused on minimising costs through increasing periphyton: a complex of sessile organisms and microbial biofilms that attach to substrates, ranging from coral reefs and stones to bamboo or plastics. Tilapia are among the fish which thrive better on periphyton than on other feed. Bamboo was found to be a particularly effective, though expensive, substrate for enhancing periphyton growth in traditional pond systems. The outcome of this has been a substantial increase in both periphyton productivity and fish production. Importantly, this technology could become more widely accessible to resource-poor farmers, bypassing the need for added fertilisers or feeds, which often cause nutrient enrichment, are costly and have a negative environmental impact.

Policy research for sustainable shrimp farming in Asia: a comparative analysis with particular reference to institutional and socio-economic aspects
Shrimp aquaculture is big business in many parts of South and South East Asia. The stimulus for this project was recognition of the detrimental impacts commonly arising from shrimp aquaculture in brackish and marine environments, which are liable to erode the long-term productivity and profitability of shrimp farming for local producers. Furthermore, disease problems associated with intensive exploitation and sub-optimal farm management reduced world production in 1996. This project partnership of four Asian and two European teams involves comparative research into shrimp farming in Bangladesh, India, Thailand and Vietnam aims to better inform policy-makers.

This policy research can build on a wealth of earlier collaborative work both through INCO research between Asian and European teams and capacity building and wider field testing of research findings thanks to funding from the budget line for 'Ecology in Developing Countries'. Earlier research results include innovative tools for monitoring environmental quality in relation to shrimp farming to promote environment-friendly production by which shrimp farming can be sustainable in Indonesia and Vietnam, and several partnerships aiming to understand the immune system in shrimp and other invertebrates for disease control and prevention.

Food aid for sustainable aquaculture in Bangladesh
The Integrated Food Assisted Development Project (IFADEP, 1995-1999) targeted increasing food security for vulnerable groups through sustainable economic activities, combining food aid with financial and technical assistance. It was implemented through local NGOs. One of the three main components promoted sustainable aquaculture and fishery enhancement to improve social and economic status of rural poor, landless and displaced persons and marginal farmers. Food for work schemes allowed for particularly cost-effective re-excavation of borrow-pits and dead rivers - 160 000 people, including 25 000 women, benefited from one or more months of paid labour, while the exploitation phase resulted in the development of 836 water bodies for sustainable fish culture. Average production exceeded targets, and 864 small homestead ponds, often intensively managed by women, were also developed, developed, creating new ways of increasing productivity, including fruit and vegetable production on the dykes.