Site selection and carrying capacities for inland and coastal aquaculture

Year published: 2013

An FAO-sponsored Expert Workshop on Site Selection and Carrying Capacities for Inland and Coastal Aquaculture was held at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in December 2010. The workshop was attended by 20 internationally recognized experts, including two staff members of FAO, and covered a number of relevant core topics and represented aquaculture in different regions of the world. Expertise within the group included the academic, regulatory and consultative sectors of the industry, giving a wide perspective of views on the core topics.

Definitions of carrying capacity appropriate for different types of aquaculture were discussed and agreed based upon four categories: physical, production, ecological and social. The range and capability of modelling tools, including spatial tools, available for addressing these capacities were discussed. The prioritization and sequence for addressing site selection and the different categories of carrying capacity were considered in detail in terms of both regional or national priorities and site-specific considerations. This publication is organized in two parts. One part contains the workshop report and the first global review entitled "Carrying capacities and site selection within the ecosystem approach to aquaculture", while the second part is the full document. The latter part is available on a CD–ROM accompanying the printed part of this publication.

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