Aquaculture has seen enormous progress in recent decades and is destined to produce the majority of the ever-growing demand for aquatic food.

The sector now needs an updated set of governing principles that ensure that it expands and intensifies, embracing modern technologies, in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible, economically viable, and able to meet the needs of present and future generations. This need is outlined in a set of articles published this week by leading experts in the field, arising from the latest Global Conference on Aquaculture Millennium +20 held in Shanghai, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and partners as part of a decadal series of such conferences.

“Given that aquaculture now supplies around 50 percent of aquatic food, and given its potential to contribute to so many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, we all need to focus on how to move it forward in a sustainable way,” said Xinhua Yuan, FAO’s Deputy Director for Aquaculture. “Fish and other aquatic products can and will play a major role in meeting the dietary demands of all people, helping improve the resilience of global food system, while also meeting the food security needs of the poorest,” he added.

The publication of the eight thematic review articles as a special issue of the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society coincides with the holding of 12th session of the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture of FAO’s Committee on Fisheries, the inter-governmental forum that guides the FAO in formulating aquaculture and fisheries policy advice. One of the major items on the agenda for the Sub-Committee, taking place 16-19 May in Hermosillo, Mexico, is the consideration of new Draft Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture (GSA), and the publication of these thematic reviews provides useful context for these discussions and more broadly to FAO’s vision for a Blue Transformation.