Report of the Expert Consultation on the Assessment of Socio-economic Impacts of Aquaculture. Ankara, Turkey, 4

FAO Fisheries Report. No. 861

Report of the Expert Consultation on the Assessment of Socio-economic Impacts of Aquaculture.

Ankara, Turkey, 4-8 February 2008.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Rome 2008

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PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT

This Consultation was organized in response to the recommendations of the second and third sessions of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) Sub-Committee on Aquaculture, and the twenty-seventh session of COFI.

Recognizing the growing importance of aquaculture and the need to improve its socio-economic benefits, the second session of the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture meeting in Trondheim, Norway, in August 2003 recommended FAO to undertake a "Thematic evaluation of the social and economic impacts of aquaculture".

The issue of socio-economic impacts of aquaculture was again raised at the Sub-Committee's third session in New Delhi, India, in September 2006, when FAO was asked to organize an intersession "Expert Consultation on the Assessment of Socio-economic Impacts of Aquaculture" with the participation of professional aquaculture and resources economists. The mandate given to this Consultation was to "agree on a widely accepted methodology for assessing socio-economic impacts of aquaculture and to determine future needs for socio-economic analyses, assessments and indicators", specifically for aquaculture. The twenty-seventh session of COFI, which met in Rome in March 2007, endorsed its Sub-Committee's recommendation while emphasizing the urgent need for such a Consultation.

The Consultation was organized and convened by the Development and Planning Service (FIEP) of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Economics and Policy Division, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, under Dr Nathanael Hishamunda's supervision. The FAO Subregional Office for Central Asia in Ankara, Turkey, contributed organizational support.

FAO.
Report of the Expert Consultation on the Assessment of Socio-economic Impacts of Aquaculture. Ankara, Turkey, 4-8 February 2008.
FAO Fisheries Report. No. 861. Rome, FAO. 2008. 53p.

ABSTRACT

This Expert Consultation was convened with the aim of identifying socio-economic impacts of aquaculture and a universally acceptable method for assessing them. The goal was also to advise FAO on future work in the area of socio-economics of aquaculture. The Consultation debated on the many positive and negative impacts of aquaculture, including those on land and land-based habitats, water and wild species, the downstream and upstream industries of aquaculture, infrastructure, incomes, employment, food supply, food quality and safety, food access, food stability, human health, education and training, population and demography, and community and social order, and emphasized that these impacts have profound interdependence and far-reaching socio-economic implications, which makes the task of assessing them difficult. There was a wide consensus amongst experts that multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) as a measurement technique is a suitable method for assessing socio-economic impacts in a situation where multiple attributes are important and cannot be easily reduced to a single monetary measure of impacts as is the case in aquaculture. However, because of the tangibles which can be evaluated in monetary terms and the intangibles which are difficult to quantify in monetary value in socio-economics of aquaculture, and given the wide range of impacts to assess as well as various circumstances, experts agreed that there is no single method which could be used to assess the socio-economic impacts of aquaculture. In addition to MCDM using AHP, they suggested that other techniques such as the "costs benefits analysis" (CBA) could also be used depending on circumstances. They recommended that FAO carry out case studies in a certain number of developed and developing countries on assessing the socio-economic impacts of aquaculture using AHP, CBA and another technique in order to test and compare the applicability and results of these methods in assessing socio-economic impacts of aquaculture. It was also recommended to develop a user guide on the implementation of these methods and build capacity in developing countries in using the identified techniques. Other needs for future work in socio-economics of aquaculture were also identified.

INTRODUCTION

OPENING OF THE CONSULTATION

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONSULTATION

INTRODUCTION OF THE BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVES, RATIONALE AND EXPECTED OUTCOME OF THE CONSULTATION

REVIEW OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF AQUACULTURE: IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT METHODS

FOLLOW-UP ACTION AND FUTURE WORK ON SOCIO-ECONOMICS OF AQUACULTURE

ADOPTION OF THE REPORT

APPENDIXES

A. Agenda

B. List of participants

C. Background document: "Review of the socio-economic impacts of aquaculture: identification and assessment methods" (Junning Cai, Ping Sun Leung and Nathanael Hishamunda)

D. Welcome remarks by Mr Tsukasa Kimoto, Officer-in-Charge, FAO Subregional Office for Central Asia (SEC)

E. Outline for the improvement of the background document: "Review of the socio-economic impacts of aquaculture: identification and assessment methods"

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