Introduction
Aquaculture is increasingly recognised as a strategic component of sustainable food systems because it could supply nutritious aquatic foods, reduce dependence on imports, create coastal employment and contribute to the EU blue transition when supported by appropriate governance and innovation (European Commission, 2021; FAO, 2024). Yet aquaculture development remains constrained not only by production bottlenecks, but also by weak social acceptability, fragmented policy coordination, and consumer uncertainty about origin, quality, price and sustainability (Masi et al., 2022; Vecchio et al., 2024; Perez Agundez et al., 2025). The food-environment perspective helps address these limits by focusing on how availability, affordability, information, trust and desirability shape food choices (Herforth and Ahmed, 2015; Kennedy et al., 2023). This paper presents preliminary evidence from the SASPA project in Italy and proposes a policy-oriented framework to position aquaculture within sustainable food systems, using the Mediterranean Diet as a strategic narrative capable of reconnecting production, consumption and territorial value creation (Capone, 2024). SASPA is a national multi-stakeholder action-research initiative jointly developed by MASAF and CIHEAM Bari. The analysis combines: (i) a review of EU and international policy frameworks on aquaculture and sustainable food systems; (ii) a review of the literature on food environments, consumer behaviour, social acceptability and aquaculture innovation; and (iii) the first outputs of the SASPA participatory process, including the 2025 stakeholder webinar, the position paper and the action-priority matrix developed with institutions, producer organisations, researchers and food-system intermediaries. The analytical objective is not to evaluate farm performance per se, but to identify the policy domains through which aquaculture can become more economically viable, socially legitimate and nutritionally relevant within Italian food environments.
Results and Conclusion
Preliminary results indicate that a food-environment lens can shift aquaculture policy from a narrow supply-side approach to a broader framework of demand formation and public value creation. Three interdependent policy domains emerge. First, access: sustainable aquaculture requires not only production support, but also better physical and economic access through logistics, distribution, product diversification and public procurement, especially in schools, hospitals and collective catering. This is particularly relevant in Mediterranean contexts, where contemporary lifestyles often weaken the regular consumption of aquatic foods despite their nutritional relevance (Meybeck et al., 2024). Second, trust: traceability, transparency and credible information are central economic variables because they reduce consumer uncertainty and support willingness to pay for national aquaculture products. Existing evidence on farmed fish consumption in Mediterranean countries shows that origin, freshness, quality cues and sustainability perceptions strongly affect demand (Masi et al., 2022). In parallel, current research on Italian aquaculture policy networks suggests that innovation uptake depends on better alignment between institutions, sectoral actors and society, rather than on technology transfer alone (Vecchio et al., 2024). This broader framing is consistent with recent work on circular economy pathways in aquaculture, which stresses the need for systemic innovation across value chains, resource use and governance arrangements (Masi et al., 2024). Third, desirability: aquaculture products need to be embedded in cultural and dietary narratives that make them socially meaningful, convenient and desirable. Here the Mediterranean Diet can operate as a policy bridge between health, environment, heritage and market development (Serra-Majem et al., 2020). Communication, culinary mediation, digital information tools and nutrition education therefore become policy instruments, not ancillary actions. This is consistent with recent calls to treat aquatic foods as central, rather than peripheral, within food and nutrition policy (Bennett et al., 2021; Kennedy et al., 2023). Overall, SASPA suggests that aquaculture should be framed as a strategic infrastructure of sustainable food systems. In policy terms, this implies integrating aquaculture with consumer policy, public health, education, territorial development and digitalisation, while addressing the social acceptability issues that continue to limit sector expansion in Europe (European Commission, 2021; Perez Agundez et al., 2025).
Acknowledgment
This abstract presents preliminary results from SASPA (2025-2027), developed within the collaboration between MASAF and CIHEAM Bari.
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