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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Workshop on the importance of social acceptability for Mediterranean aquaculture development: stocktaking and the way forward was held on 29 August 2018 in Montpellier, France. It was organized by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO) in cooperation with the European Union (EU) Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 (H2020) Integrating Innovative Approaches for Competitive and Sustainable Performance across the Mediterranean Aquaculture Value Chain (PerformFISH) project within the congress AQUA 2018 (France, August 2018). The workshop was organized within the framework of the EU Horizon 2020 Mediterranean Aquaculture Integrated Development (MedAID) project and was attended by 70 participants from a wide range of countries. The main objective was to take stock of the current public perception of aquaculture and to generate elements to develop guidelines to improve social acceptability of the sector. It included keynote speeches, the presentation of the preliminary results of a regional survey, a question and answer session with panellists (farmers, farmer organizations, administrations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), media and researchers on social aspects of governance) and poster sessions on social acceptability. Participants agreed on the distinction between social acceptability of the product and social acceptability of the sector, which both entailed different approaches. They also concurred that aquaculture might learn from the experience of other sectors on how to bring the consumer closer to the origin of the product and to improve the relationship between the sector and society. They stressed the importance of establishing mechanisms to bring consumers closer to the origin of the product and the farms and to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the sector. In addition, social acceptability was considered as a rather intangible entity influenced by critical factors that can vary according to general public perception and misconception of the sector, stakeholders involved and the main characteristics of aquaculture farming systems. Finally, it was highlighted that participatory approach was important in aquaculture site selection and planning in order to improve social acceptability, that the scale was an essential issue to be addressed as social acceptability plays a key role especially at the local level, and that education and information towards the general public is needed in order to avoid misinformation and conflicts.