Abstract
After an initial rapid and strong growth, the development of marine aquaculture in Europe (EU) has shown signs of stagnation, even regression in some Member States. The explanatory factors of this stagnation have often taken the form of technical constraints, disease control and environmental management, constraints on production factors (access to capital, access to space, access to knowledge…). In addition to these constraints, there are significant conflicts of use with other activities, both for access to resources and for environmental impacts suffered or emitted. However, the explanatory factors have paid little attention to socio-economic forcing, whether it be the adequacy between production systems and markets, or even the consumption modes, or the adequacy of aquaculture developments with the territories where they take place. In addition, the growth of production has often been accompanied by increasing difficulties in terms of farms’ profitability.
Notwithstanding these issues and following the financial crisis of 2008, Blue Growth has been perceived as a development opportunity through a series of key sectors that are expected to boost the economy and provide jobs and welfare (EC, 2017). Among these sectors, marine aquaculture raises high expectations through Blue Growth and its declination into the European Union’s integrated maritime policy and its marine spatial planning tool (MSP). Seen as a tool for integration, and even integrated management, the MSP is also put forward as a factor for improving the social acceptability of aquaculture developments, especially through the approach of Allocated Zones to Aquaculture (AZAs), reinforced by communication actions aimed at mitigating the misperceptions that consumers and citizens might express about aquaculture and its products. The stagnation of catches from fisheries, the increasing demand per capita in seafood products supported by an ever increasing world demography and confirmed by the various models reinforce the role henceforth devolved to aquaculture to provide for this growth.
A review of issues and bottlenecks to the development of marine aquaculture in Europe and in the world nevertheless makes it possible to underline an important number of constraints which can break and question the desired or planned development, but also a certain number of contradictions between the stated objectives and the reality of developments. This long-standing dynamic linked to the first developments related to the Blue Revolution still seems to be at work. The same causes leading to the same effects, the adequacy of the objectives assigned to aquaculture developments with a sustainability approach is questionable. A review of development experiences within the H2020 MedAID project reinforces an initial statement related to the lack of attention paid to the adequacy of aquaculture objectives with the territories that support them, with markets and their evolution and with consumer expectations. If technological solutions and innovations remain at the heart of aquaculture developments, these constraints underline their necessary but not sufficient property and the needs for more holistic approach centred on governance.
Keywords: Sustainable aquaculture, Bottlenecks to development, European Blue Growth, Holistic approaches, Aquaculture development policies
EC (2017). Report on the Blue Growth Strategy, Towards more sustainable growth and jobs in the blue economy. Commission Staff working document on Blue Growth 2013-2016, SWD(2017) 128 final, 61p.