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Certification has evolved in response to food safety concerns. But the benefits for farmers and local consumers is debatable and should be considered in policy formulation.

The public’s perception of a sector influence both policy formulation and development, both directly and indirectly, of that sector. A proper, pragmatic policy structure is essential to all development, and particularly for primary production sectors. In recent years, the public’s perception of aquaculture has all but tarnished the sector and, in some nations, public outcry has resulted finally in major policy changes. In the new millennium, the sector will have to attempt to clean this tainted image and endeavour to correct the public view on aquaculture. The message in this regard should be that aquaculture is essential to meet human demand for aquatic products and will continue developing as a sector that minimally perturbs the environment; that it can be a gross environmental cleaner, a prudent user of primary resources, and a producer of healthy and nutritious food of high consumer acceptability.

The FAO/AAHRI Expert Workshop on Improving Biosecurity through Prudent and Responsible Use of Veterinary Medicines in Aquatic Food Production was convened in Bangkok, Thailand, from 15 to 18 December 2009, in order to understand the current status of the use of antimicrobials in aquaculture and to discuss the concerns and impacts of their irresponsible use on human health, the aquatic environment and trade. Such discussions became the basis for drafting recommendations targeted for both government and private sectors and for developing guiding principles on the responsible use of antimicrobials in aquaculture to be considered as part of future FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) Technical Guidelines on Prudent and Responsible Use of Veterinary Medicines in Aquaculture.

Additionally, an FAO publication on Responsible and Prudent Use of Veterinary Antimicrobials highlights salient features of fish farming and disease and FAO advocacy, as well as tools and future work in promoting prudent and responsible use of veterinary medicines.