By Susanne Togeby, AAU Communication og Public Affairs

Traditionally, we associate food production with green fields and animals on a farm. However, for billions of people worldwide, fish and seafood are the primary source of protein, and small-scale aquaculture such as ponds form the basis for a significant part of the global protein consumption. Aquaculture emits significantly less CO2 on average than meat production and is therefore a major factor in global sustainable food system transformation.

This is told by Furqan Asif, Assistant Professor at the Centre for Blue Governance at Aalborg University and one of 30 international researchers, behind an article on how aquaculture can become more sustainable. The overarching conclusion is that far greater coordination and more concerted governance efforts are required than is currently going on to support sustainable transformation.

One issue is that research and development within aquaculture mostly focus on the technical aspect, notes Furqan:

"We know a lot about the technical side of aquaculture, such as fish biology and genetics, and these things are important, but we have insufficient emphasis on aquaculture governance and management. We need to understand the social science aspect of aquaculture to address the challenges we have, because technical solutions depend on social and political factors."

Coordinated regulation for agri- and aquaculture

The international team of researchers highlight five areas to focus on for more sustainable aquaculture. First and foremost, setting goals for sustainable transformation is crucial, according to Furqan Asif:

"Like anything in life, you have to set a goal first that allows you to shape certain actions. This also applies when we want to address the broader challenges affecting aquaculture production. These challenges relate to social, economic, and environmental factors like climate change, livelihood insecurity, and how aquaculture can play a role for people who don't have enough food security."

An area of focus involves a collective regulatory approach to land and water-based food production, rather than regulating each industry separately. Additionally, partnerships between industries on land and water are essential for innovation and knowledge exchange.

"We advocate for more regulation across sectors because it will enhance sustainability. Fundamentally, we believe that governments and policymakers should look at food production in a national scale and keep in mind that aquaculture is part of this food consumption system. That would allow a better alignment of public policy and regulation between and across sectors," says Dr. Asif.

For example, the use of chemicals and antibiotics in agriculture poses a significant challenge in aquaculture because these chemicals run into the water and harm the production. These areas are regulated separately, but if politicians enact laws that span both sectors, and aquaculture producers collaborate and exchange knowledge, sustainable agriculture could lead to sustainable production of aquatic foods.

Shellfish have minimal climate impact and benefit the environment, but regulations hinder production

Unfortunately, legislation can also obstruct sustainability. An example is shellfish like oysters and mussels, which have low climate impact and are highly sustainable to produce because they live by filtering water and hence don't require feeding unlike other seafood production such as shrimp or salmon and land animals such as cows or chickens. However, according to Furqan, Denmark has regulations that make it challenging to run mussel farms, for example. Specifically, the licensing process is very long with several applications to many authorities, as small-scale mussel farmers have noted.

Also, more sharing of knowledge and innovation is needed to create more sustainable aquaculture. For instance, researchers need to explore other, more sustainable solutions for diseases than chemicals, pesticides, and antibiotics, which are often used because of their effectiveness and convenience. Scientists are also experimenting with reducing the risk of disease genetically or to genetically improve the ability of aquatic animals and plants to grow in different conditions.

The Norwegians actually invented salmon as sushi

According to Dr. Asif, aquatic foods hold untapped potential in terms of resources from fish and shellfish beyond consumption. For instance, in Iceland, investments have been made in startup companies that utilize beneficial enzymes from cod in cosmetics - resources that have previously gone to waste.

Furqan believes that we should consider aquaculture not only from a food perspective but also as an economic opportunity. Looking at Norway, salmon aquaculture is the second-largest economic sector after oil and gas production and one of the biggest contributors to their GDP. Part of this success was because Norwegian salmon producers, driven by an oversupply of salmon, created a demand for salmon by marketing the fish for use in sushi in Japan during the '80s. Salmon wasn't a natural part of Japanese sushi culture at that time, and many Japanese had aversions to eating it raw due to naturally occurring parasites, but the Norwegians convinced the Japanese to adopt it.

The story of salmon is an example of the power of strategic investment and foresight, as seen in how the Norwegian government collaborated with the industry to foster development. In Denmark, it could for example be mussels and oysters, which, according to Furqan Asif, have the potential to become a much larger sector while also supporting the drive towards sustainable aquatic foods. In this context, it is crucial to understand how sustainability is included in the everyday routines of consumers who are not necessarily and always conscious of the environmental impacts of their food consumption. Various strategies are required, including certifications, traceability, social protections such as insurance, and financial security such as patent protections.

Collaboration across all stages of the value chain

To enhance sustainability within aquaculture, all parts of the value chain must work together, which requires cooperation across production, processing, transportation, trading, and post-consumption disposal.

An example is the independent organization Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), responsible for certifying and labeling seafood. In Denmark, we're familiar with the blue ASC label when purchasing certain fish and seafood products. Unfortunately, ASC-certified products still represent only a small part of the world's production.

Therefore, we need to engage with producers to an even greater extent in labeling, for example, by making sustainability improvement as criteria against access to finance or insurance. This requires coordination and transparency across these stages through industry partnerships, whether involving private companies, NGOs, or governmental entities at both national and international levels.

Action items for sustainable development

The researchers summarize in the article a series of strategic advice for the three involved groups, namely practitioners, policymakers, and researchers individually, as well as general action items that cut across all three.

• For practitioners, the guidance revolves around coordinating activities, such as establishing associations so members can set common goals, coordinate, and share knowledge.
• For policymakers, it involves supporting collaboration, investment, research, and innovation.
• Researchers should provide evidence-based knowledge, including through interdisciplinary collaborations.