86. The following considerations refer to the general regional situation and do not therefore apply specifically to any particular country. Exceptional cases such as shrimp culture in Ecuador and salmon farming in Chile bear no relation to this average situation and should be excluded from the remarks.
87. Various indications/recommendations emerge from the current production status of aquaculture as described in the previous chapter, which may serve to shape the formulation of policies for national and regional aquaculture development.
88. Although all those considerations are included within the same policy framework, the grouping in themes which share common features, facilitates its understanding:
Policy formulation and the means of implementation (legislation, planning, administration, etc.)
Technology development and human resource training (research, multilevel vocational training, extension).
Inputs (natural resources, species, human and financial resources).
Processing and marketing.
89. It is not surprising that countries accord low priority to aquaculture if we consider its modest contribution to total fishery and agricultural production. It is considered more appropriate to direct the limited government resources towards enhancing the technology and management of fisheries or agriculture than towards initiating a still relatively unknown activity such as aquaculture.
90. As a result, with few exceptions, national policies for aquaculture development are usually non-existent or of secondary importance.
91. An essential pre-requisite for aquaculture development is the establishment and promotion of a strategy which takes full cognizance of the potential benefits and/or negative impacts. There are a series of mistaken conceptions on the advantages and disadvantages of aquaculture which need to be made perfectly clear to the policy-making bodies.
92. This strategy should be an integral part of a far broader strategy to develop the primary sector (agriculture and fisheries), with the same time-frame and formulation, execution and monitoring procedures.
93. The objectives of aquaculture development will be defined in each case on the basis of available natural, human and financial resources, existing technologies and their availability, market outlets and local and national socio-economic conditions. This will determine the compatibility of aquaculture with the economic, social and food-production objectives of the other sectors. In the event of total incompatibility or competition for available resources, this will be explicitly declared so as to establish the comparative advantages and determine the priority to be given to each development sector.
94. The aquaculture development policy should not focus solely on industrial activities, which are generally under the control of private enterprise, but should also include socially-oriented small-scale production and the restocking of reservoirs, lakes, lagoons, etc.
95. The formulation of this policy requires a concurrent reshaping and possible integration of relevant legislation. This process should not only include specific aquaculture presriptions, but also all other legislation that indirectly affects aquaculture development, for example: land tenure, ownership, access to and use of inland water, availability and use of costal water, etc.
96. National legislations should be coordinated internationally to account for: direct production factors (animal health problems, introduction or transfer of live organisms, etc.); aquaculture marketing variables (health certification, codex alimentarius); and laws on environmental protection.
97. With regard to the latter, the national legislations should consider various environmental aspects in the light of the current environmental thinking:
The negative or positive environmental impact of aquaculture;
Aquaculture as a concomitant of sustained development (poverty and environmental conservation cannot coexist);
Modern approaches to environmental conservation, such as assimilative capacity, adapted to the resources and management capacity of Third World countries.
98. Aquaculture may be affected: a) biologically, due to microbial load, disease, phytoplankton and macrophyte blooms and predators; b) physically, because of changes in siltation and suspended matter (turbidity), hydrodynamic changes (currents, stratification) and thermal disturbances; c) chemically, through the quantity of organic matter (BOD), heavy metals, substances such as biocides (pesticides, herbicides), pharmaceutical products (disinfectants and antibiotics), toxic chemical products, oil spills, salinity changes and pH.
99. Aquaculture may in turn affect: a) natural habitats and their biota; b) the aquaculture production process itself; c) human health. Consequences of the activity cover the following aspects:
The siting of the aquaculture installations and, particularly, the destruction of mangrove systems, soil and aquifer salinization, effects on water regimes and siltation patterns;
Culture fisheries, especially in lagoons, low-exchange bays and internal seas;
Nutrient and organic matter enrichment of waters and silt;
Use of chemical substances, including fertilizers and manure, food additives and hormones;
Generation of drug-resistant aquatic pathogens;
Spread of disease and parasites;
Loss of genetic diversity due to transfers and/or introduction of exotic species;
Integrated agriculture and aquaculture and breeding in waste waters.
100. Where they exist, aquaculture statistical data are generally included in fisheries data, which are acquired from volumes landed and marketing channels. Any significant expansion of aquaculture increasingly requires planning instruments that obviously include the necessary statistical information (production volumes, areas under culture, etc.). It would therefore seem particularly appropriate to establish a statistical data gathering and processing system similar to that already existing for agriculture.
101. The technology currently available in the region is no constraint now because the output of aquaculture is so low. However, if this sector is to be developed certain measures need to be taken on the basis of the present analysis.
102. Most research conducted in the region during the initial stage of aquaculture development (from the 1970s on) was adaptive. Though this approach was initially justified it later proved inadequate to meet the new needs of the development process. Some problems in adapting imported technologies and developing new ones (native species) required instruments and information that only basic research can provide. Also, the development of the basic components of the culture technologies to be implemented, with all requisite investment and effort, is unquestionably a government responsibility.
103. The public sector should, therefore, pay more attention to baseline and particularly applied research. The government institutions in each country should coordinate the current research of the various public and private agencies to optimize the use of existing resources. There is often no systematic provision for adequate exchange of information, and research programmes suffer from duplication and overlapping. Often, programmes whose orientation is ostensibly applied research fail to consider the needs of the productive sector and produce results that have no bearing on the real problems of aquaculture production.
104. Given the novelty of the aquaculture sector in the region, virtually all the research inputs have been biotechnological. Only a very small proportion of the development efforts have been directed towards improving the various intervening factors, and this is mainly reflected in the lack of researchers and administrators with a background in strategy-formulation, planning and management.
105. Aquaculture development could be significantly boosted by research oriented towards socio-economic, environmental and farm system management problems. Particular attention should be paid to research on the development of technologies for the farming of native species for which national demand is high.
106. Many problems in adapting external technologies have arisen from strategies that failed to take into account the environmental, social and economic features of the targeted areas. Research is therefore required that places the physical and biotechnological aspects within the socio-cultural and economic/financial context.
107. The disproportionate growth of the tertiary sector4, is reflected in the universities and technical colleges, which have also concentrated on the biotechnological aspects. In the future, the curriculum will have to be diversified to include economic and humanistic subjects to meet the needs of aquaculture development. In this connection, it is important to clearly differentiate between the research and training needs of industrial and social aquaculture.
108. The extension services required for industrial aquaculture and for social aquaculture will be quite different. Industry already has access to existing technologies to increase or upgrade output or is in a position to acquire the information and skills needed to introduce technological innovations. The small aquaculturist, who is at times totally dependent on backstopping services, requires extension services which in most cases simply do not exist. Given, however, that there are agricultural development field services, one rapid, effective and economic way to meet the aquaculture extension requirements would be to train agricultural extensionists to include aquaculture among their normal activities. Apart from being very useful, this would appear logical to the small farmer, who often sees the two activities paired.
109. One major constraint to the development of small-scale aquaculture and fish culture is the shortage of appropriately-staffed, permanently operating hatcheries in areas where they are needed. Governments should remedy this situation where necessary with investments in infrastructure, training and management. it is hoped that the sector will develop towards the emergence of small private producers of seed and other inputs, thereby reducing the aquaculturists' dependence on the State. We must come to terms with the idea, however, that this form of aquaculture will require very long-term government support. Such support is fully justified by the ensuing social benefits and help with the food problem.
110. Hatcheries for the farming of high-value species such as marine fish, molluscs and crustaceans are initiatives of the private sector which must assume the corresponding risks. The State only performs this function exceptionally when the interventions are social-oriented as in the case of coastal lagoon management.
111. Feed production for fish and crustacean culture in the region is thought to be sufficient now but will have to be increased as the activity progresses from its present semi-intensive/extensive level to a more intensive level. At that time, the most expensive feed input, fish meal, will face increasing regional and international competition from the livestock feed concentrate industry.
112. Alternative feed must therefore be found for aquaculture in the form, for example, of agricultural by-products or lower-cost products. A twin effort is required to solve this problem:
The promotion of applied research to determine possible fish meal substitutes. The methodology used will involve all three interested parties (the feed producers, the aquaculturists and the researchers), given that the optimization of the substitute feeds will depend on the feed formulation and yield for each type of culture and on the operational (management) technique used;
At the same time, the product identification conducted in a few countries of the region by the AQUILA Project should be extended to the remaining countries. Research will be required to identify the products in terms of quality, quantity, location, cost and volume/seasonal availability, as well as the by-products or residues that could be used for new feeding regimes.
113. Two operations closely linked to intensified breeding, artificial seed production and high density stocking, inevitably lead to a higher incidence of disease. The still fledgling fish culture health sector in the region needs to be reinforced and broadened to tackle this problem, particularly through preventive strategies. If these actions are to be effective they need to be endorsed by national and corresponding sub-regional and regional legislation.
114. The institutions responsible for the development of small-scale aquaculture are usually staffed by experts trained in biotechnology. However, economic and engineering skills are also needed if the sector is to be adequately planned and therefore gain economic status.
115. The high levels of inflation in the region have constrained the entire credit system. Despite this (or rather as a result), access to credit for industrial aquaculture is relatively easy given that it generates commodities for export. The situation is very different, however, for the small producer who generally lacks the collateral required to secure a loan. This is one of the major obstacles to increased aquaculture production. The solution might be to organize the small producers into cooperatives or other forms of association. The degree of government intervention in this process must obviously depend on individual policy decisions but past experience should not be underestimated. A creative approach may be productive though it might not be easy to implement. In any case, the governments can effectively influence the method(s) used for the issuing and management of small-producer credit.
116. The market for fish products varies considerably within the countries of the region but it is generally poorly developed because of the relative absence of fish in food consumption patterns. Efforts to modify the eating habits of the low-income social groups have proved costly and generally ineffective. On the assumption that such a campaign could be moderately successful, it would be far less expensive to direct a significant proportion of the pelagic species that are currently processed into fish meal towards human consumption. There would appear to be little sense in adding a promotional component to the multiple difficulties that already face the development of aquaculture oriented towards the breeding of low-cost species. One well-known advantage of aquaculture, however, is its ability to provide proteins in areas that are deprived of a nutritional equivalent. It would seem logical therefore to refine ways of identifying possible exceptions to the above rule.
117. As with other food producing activities (agriculture, stock-raising, poultry and pig-rearing, fisheries, etc.) the product should sometimes be processed to broaden its market presentation. This would attach added value to aquaculture and enhance the marketing and quality potential.
118. Industrial aquaculture almost always includes post-harvest processing in the investment analysis. Particular attention should be paid to this component in the formulation and execution of projects for the development of small-scale aquaculture. These projects should include the infrastructure and training needed to handle and process the product with available resources. The objective would be to guarantee product quality and freshness, even on the small-scale level, thereby enhancing marketing potential. Processing may in some cases be decisive in expanding the producers' operational range and, consequently, in developing the activity.
119. When a culture technique has become established and spread to the point where supply exceeds demand, thus lowering the unit price, it may be advisable to diversify processing techniques. New forms of product presentation may open new markets and increase the number of consumers and the volume of sales, thereby accommodating an increase in output and at the same time raising the value added.
120. A common problem in commercial aquaculture is the usual need for standardized presentation and quality. This problem arises because the consignments come from different producers whose operational systems differ (stocking rates, feed, time periods, etc.).
121. Post-harvest processing technology should be included with the other production technologies (genetic, feeding, etc.) that directly influence the physiological and presentation characteristics of the product, thereby enhancing the likelihood of consumer acceptance.
122. The demand for export commodities such as shrimps, salmon, molluscs and seaweed continues to exceed supply, though the prices of the first two have begun to fall during the last three years. The market is expected to favour the producer for some years still, though profit margins may shrink. In these circumstances, the policy of many governments of the region to focus on foreign exchange earnings centred on private sector exportation would appear to be justified.
123. However, there is some concern over the shrimp market; shrimp culture being a component of the plans of virtually all the countries of the region with the right ecological conditions. Whether the international markets will be able to absorb the increase in output that will result from the production plans of countries inside and especially outside the region is not known. The increase in supply may upset the economic equilibrium of the Latin American and Caribbean producers.
124. Where infrastructural and other investments are substantial, as for shrimp culture, the international market will have to be carefully monitored and reviewed at all times, as will the impact on the domestic markets (which may be called upon to absorb part of the production). Hopefully, the domestic markets will develop as competition on the international markets becomes fiercer and as the region emerges from its present economic crisis. In these conditions, regional industrial aquaculture will have to compete with producers from other parts of the world, as it continues to compete with fishery products and by-products and other sources of animal protein (chicken, rabbit, etc.). The only producers to survive will be those who increase their efficiency to the point where their production costs make them competitive. Here again, this is an area which will need efforts and resources to determine, in terms of time and area, the most suitable form of technology (bio-economic model). The logical instruments to meet this challenge are multi-disciplinary research, and project planning and execution.
125. Several of the above points have highlighted the need to identify specific current or potential producer communities and to monitor the external and internal market trends and the production systems that adapt most easily to developments. This will require a streamlined data system designed to compile the required national, regional and external data. This is another area that should be accorded high priority during the planning process.
