Foreword

Together, the three reports present a potent source of knowledge of the past, present and future status of world aquaculture, in-depth discussion of experience and ideas on how to reach the desired goals for the future of aquaculture, and inspiration to achieve this potential. Preparing and organizing the Conference was an undertaking buoyed significantly by the enthusiasm and cooperation that marked everyone’s efforts and input on an international scale.

The Conference was held in Bangkok between 20-25 February, 2000, and generously hosted by the Government of Thailand with major support from six organizations and agencies whose names and corporate logos appear on the back cover of this and the previous two publications. In addition to our official hosts and supporting agencies, many others, too numerous to mention individually, helped in countless heartwarming ways. We reiterate our deep appreciation for all the assistance given by each and every person, group and organization that enabled the Conference to be held successfully, and are grateful to everyone who took part. Your participation made it possible to achieve its immediate purpose of launching the pursuit of the long-term objectives outlined throughout these Technical Proceedings.

Regardless of the length of time it may take to realize our goals for aquaculture in the third millennium, the journey starts with the first step. NACA and FAO have taken those initial steps. The day after the Conference, Asian government representatives to the Governing Council of NACA met to map the immediate and long-term

Hassanai Kongkeo
Coordinator
Network of Aquaculture Centres in
Asia-Pacific (NACA)
Bangkok

These modest first steps are intended to pave the way for many more initiatives to be taken to get the objectives outlined in the Bangkok Strategy “on the road” and “into the water”. In the one-year period during which these Technical Proceedings were being edited, many more steps have been initiated. As with the implementation of the Millennium Conference, NACA and FAO, in cooperation with other concerned organizations, institutions and agencies, have started to forge ahead to assist aquaculture stakeholders, especially the governments and people who depend on aquaculture for their livelihoods, to achieve the social, economic and environmental sustainability goals embodied in the Bangkok Declaration and Strategy. Our optimism, that these goals are realistic and attainable, is firmly founded on the dedication and drive shown by all sectors involved: farmer cooperatives and agencies, regulators, policymakers and planners, scientists, workers of non-governmental organizations, and other aquatic resource users. This optimism is further reinforced by a new wave of international collaboration, which clearly reflects increased recognition that sustainable use of our aquatic resources can only be achieved through vigorous and combined efforts.

These Technical Proceedings reflect this unity of effort. They also emphasize the openness of communication, singularity of purpose, and wisdom to adapt to dynamic aquatic systems and social conditions. It will be this flexibility, guided by principles founded on the common good, that will allow us to make optimal and sustained use of the aquatic environment, to which we are linked and on which we, and all who follow us, depend.

Ichiro Nomura
Assistant Director General
Fisheries Department
FAO Rome

From the Editors

We, the editors of Aquaculture in the Third Millennium, the Technical Proceedings of the Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium, would like to acknowledge the tremendous undertaking - and satisfaction - that this responsibility entailed for both the authors and us. Concept to compilation took a mere two years, but this final product embodies years of experience and a vast range of expertise on the part of all contributors. An “Advance Copy” was produced for limited pre-publication circulation at the 24th Session of the Food and Agriculture of the United Nations (FAO) Committee on Fisheries (COFI) meeting in Rome, from 26 February to 02 March 2001. Following one more proof and style review, this final document was published in June 2001.

The Editorial Team was faced with the task of compiling information and manuscripts submitted by the authors, in many cases comprising writing teams whose members are working in various parts of the world. Editorial style was based on standard FAO editorial guidelines, however, Keynote Addresses and some Plenary Lectures are published as submitted, due to the narrative presentation of the talks given at the Conference. The Thematic Reviews were edited for language, style and technical consistency. The Regional Reviews and the Global Synthesis were subjected to the same editorial review, in addition to standardising production data and statistical presentations. Tables, figures and graphs were also standardized for better visual quality and ease of comparison. Production figures and analytical methods were based on FAO FishStat Plus Version 2.3 (2000)1. The editors were assisted in this task by many staff at FAO Fisheries Department and the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA). Significant acknowledgement is due to: Uwe Barg, Devin Bartley, Matthias Halwart, Jiansan Jia, Manuel Martinez, John Moehl, Melba Reantaso and Zhou Xiaowei. Felix Marttin of FAO Fisheries Department helped with producing standardized graphs, tables, and figures. Juancarlos Trabucco helped in page formatting. The cover page was designed by Delfin Laforteza and the credit for final page formatting, layout design and desktop publishing goes to Sylviane Borghesi of the Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service (FAO/FIRI).

Every effort was made to protect the sense and opinions expressed by the author(s), and editorial changes and questions were made in consultation with them. Every manuscript has been proofed by its authors or at least by the senior author. We thank everyone for their prompt and gracious responses to the numerous, repeated and often insistent requests for more information or clarification. Despite the close and repeated scrutiny described above, however, errors may still emerge for which we, the editors, take full responsibility and apologize in advance.

The Editors

Rohana P. Subasinghe
Senior Fishery Resources Officer (Aquaculture), Fishery Resources Division,
Fisheries Department, FAO of the UN,
Viale Della Terme di Caracalla,
Rome 00100, ITALY

Pedro B. Bueno
Information Specialist,
Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), Suraswadi Building,
Department of Fisheries,
Kasesart Campus, Jatujak,
Bangkok 10900, THAILAND

Michael J. Phillips
Environment Specialist,
Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), Suraswadi Building,
Department of Fisheries,
Kasesart Campus, Jatujak,
Bangkok 10900, THAILAND

Courtney Hough
General Secretary, Federation of European Aquaculture Producers (FEAP), 30 rue Vivaldi,
4100 Boncelles, BELGIUM

Sharon E. McGladdery
Research Scientist, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO-Canada),
Moncton, NB E1C 9B6, CANADA

J. Richard Arthur
Consultant, 6798 Hillside Drive, Sparwood, B.C.,
VOB 2GO, CANADA

Introduction

These Technical Proceedings represent the most comprehensive and authoritative review assembled to date of the status of aquaculture development in the world. This volume, the third major publication arising from the Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium, contains the information essential to conduct well-informed discussion of sustainable aquaculture development - both at the Conference, as well as after. The conclusions and recommendations were derived from the following discussion fora:

• Two keynote papers, one reviewing the progress of aquaculture since 1976, when the first technical conference on aquaculture was held in Kyoto, and one looking ahead to where sustainable aquaculture should be in 20 years time, including possible ways to get there;
• One global review of the status, progress and future role of aquaculture;
• Nine regional aquaculture development trends and reviews, including one dedicated to China, which provided the basis for the global review;
• Five plenary lectures providing the information settings for the thematic and technical reviews; and
• Fourteen thematic (policy-related and production-based) reviews.

These all provide basic reference points on the progress, direction and magnitude of aquaculture changes, and the factors associated with these changes, within global, regional, sectoral, thematic and technical perspectives. As a collective, these offer a holistic view, thorough analyses and multi-dimensional perspectives on the progress of aquaculture, upon which stakeholders can base decisions for future development requirements.

The reviews were prepared in various fora by individuals or groups of expert authorities. The intensive preparatory work included: organization of expert consultations, national studies and workshops; regional workshops; and an international expert meeting that refined the draft regional reviews and initiated the development of the global synthesis on trends in aquaculture development. Specifically, these included:

• the regional workshop to formulate the Asian aquaculture development strategy for 2000-2020 conducted by the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) in September 1999;
• the review of South Pacific aquaculture by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), with the assistance of the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM);
• the reviews on the state of, and trends in, aquaculture development in six other regions, facilitated and conducted by FAO with the participation of various regional organizations;
• the review of Chinese aquaculture developed by the Bureau of Fisheries of China (BFC) with inputs from various centres under the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences (CAFS), as well as the NACA Secretariat;
• fourteen specialized expert-led thematic reviews;
• a workshop on regional reviews and global synthesis of trends in aquaculture development, held at the FAO Regional Office in Asia-Pacific in October 1999;
• the preparation of the two keynote papers, the first by Dr T.V.R. Pillay, who was the architect of the Kyoto Aquaculture Conference of 1976, the second by Mr Jiansan Jia, Chief of the Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service of the FAO Fisheries Department; and
• the development of the five plenary lectures.

Additionally, technical and experience papers were submitted voluntarily, many of which were presented as posters.

For the purposes of the Conference, the presentation of the reviews was arranged in a sequence and manner that enabled the Conference participants to develop a broad understanding of the status of aquaculture and a systematic recognition of the key issues associated with its status. The program enabled a deliberate, iterative and participatory process that allowed every participant ample opportunity to contribute constructively to the deliberations, formulation of conclusions and recom-mendations, and the framing of the Bangkok

Declaration and Strategy for Aquaculture Development Beyond 20001.

The two keynote papers complemented each other. The first reviewed the progress made in development of aquaculture, and how this has been achieved over the 24 years since 1976, when the first conference on aquaculture was held in Kyoto; the second keynote reviewed the prospects for aquaculture development over the next 20 years, the potential for sustainable aquaculture development, and the mechanisms by which this potential can be achieved. Following the keynote papers, during the first day of the Conference, eight regional reviews of aquaculture development status, trends and issues were presented, along with those within China and a global overview which was largely, but not wholly, the synthesis of the regional reviews. The plenary lectures were delivered prior to the thematic sessions, their purpose being to provide the context and setting for issues to be described and analysed by the reviewers undertaking the thematic reviews. The platforms for discussion were divided into eight thematic sessions covering policy-related issues, such as legal frameworks, stakeholder involvement etc., and six sessions addressing technical issues, such as health, nutrition and genetics. The results of these discussions, specifically the conclusions and recommendations, were presented in plenary workshops and subjected to further deliberations. These conclusions and recommendations were further synthesized by a multi-national, multi-sectoral and multi–disciplinary Technical Drafting Committee into a draft Bangkok Declaration and Strategy. The Draft was discussed and adopted at the final plenary session. After being subjected to a post-conference public review over a period of one month, it was refined and published.

In addition to the Bangkok Declaration and Strategy, the recommendations of the thematic sessions were brought together in the Reportof the Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium2. The recommendations were developed by the members of the session panels and other specialists present at the conference, presented in plenary workshops, redrafted, and refined through post-conference consultation by correspondence among the panel members and interested participants. These provide a comprehensive set of recommendations on key issues to address for the future development of sustainable aquaculture.

The three publications produced from this Conference are complementary. Together, they provide a useful reference for anyone with an interest or stake in aquaculture development. Moreover, they underline the need for direction towards higher production within the bounds of sustaining the aquatic resource base upon which aquaculture depends (habitat, water quality, stock resources). The Conference also emphasized the benefits from equitable distribution of the income and products generated by aquaculture. These have to support not only those who work directly for the sector, but also the rural communities and socio-economic dependants upon which aquaculture is developing. Sustainability is not only founded upon, but also best supported by, well-nourished and educated workforce communities.