July 28, 2016

Sustainable Growth of Aquaculture: The Need for Research to Evaluate the Impacts of Regulatory Frameworks

Aquaculture continues to grow at a rapid rate across the world, averaging 6.5% annual growth from 2010 to 2014 (FAO 2016). This growth can be attributed to research and development that has led to scientific breakthroughs and development of new technologies. Total global aquaculture production began to exceed that of the supply harvested from the wild in 2013 (FAO 2016). Perhaps more striking has been the emergence of farmed species such as shrimp, salmon, tilapia, oysters, and seaweeds that have grown to dominate supply to consumers, leading to declining market prices that have led to changing patterns of consumption.

However, it has become increasingly clear that the growth of aquaculture has primarily occurred in the developing world that contrasts with declining production in a number of countries in the developed world. A literature is beginning to emerge on the stifling effects of regulatory systems on growth of aquaculture in the developed world. In a cross-country analysis, Abate et al. (2016) found a significant negative relationship between the stringency of environmental regulations and the aquaculture growth rate. As specific examples, the two countries with the lowest aquaculture growth rates, Japan and the USA, were also countries with greater indexes of stringency of environmental regulations. In the USA, for example, aquaculture production has declined from 2010 to 2014 at a rate of approximately 0.3% per year. The redundancy and complexity of the US regulatory framework has been identified as one of the key factors contributing to this decline (Engle and Stone 2013; Kite-Powell 2013; Knapp and Rubino 2016). By continent, Europe had the third greatest stringency of environmental regulations and the lowest growth rate of aquaculture; environmental regulation has been identified as a cause of the low growth rates of aquaculture in the European Union (EU) (European Commission 2009). Norway appeared to be an outlier in the Abate et al. (2016) study, as a country with the second greatest index of environmental stringency but the eighth highest aquaculture growth rate. However, Asche and Roll (2013) demonstrated that, even in Norway, regulations were creating inefficiencies in salmon farming. The inhibiting effect of regulations has been thought to be related more to the form and manner of implementation than the regulations themselves (Nielsen 2012; Nielsen et al. 2014).

In contrast, the sparse literature that exists on regulatory systems in the developing world points to a need for more stringent and effective regulatory and enforcement systems. In India, for example, many of the aquaculture regulations have been shaped by market concerns related to the safety and ethics of shrimp production for export, but such initiatives have not percolated to other species, particularly those with less export demand. A similar dichotomy was reported in China of separate regulatory standards and enforcement systems for products destined for export as compared to products that targeted domestic markets (Broughton and Walker 2010). Various studies have pointed to the lack of enforcement of regulations pertaining to antibiotic use in China (Broughton and Walker 2010) and Vietnam (Rico et al. 2012, 2013). Indiscriminant use of antibiotics can lead to bacterial resistance to key antibiotics important in human medicine, but the prevalence of such resistance, in some circumstances, may be greater in seafood products from natural environments than from farms (Rahman et al. 2016).

Critical to building export-oriented aquaculture industries in developing nations will be greater emphasis on enhancing governance structures and regulatory enforcement frameworks.

With developed-world markets being the main export target, compliance with international standards of environmental stewardship, food safety, feed safety, labor issues, land use patterns, and social/ethical responsibility will become increasingly important. Such international regulations will likely affect the extent of trade among countries and be the impetus in the establishment of trade regulations. For aquaculture growth in the developing world to be sustained, there is a need for greater attention to be paid to effective regulatory and enforcement systems.

Thus, understanding the nature of the impact of regulatory structures on the growth of aquaculture will become as important in developing countries as they are in the USA, the EU, and Australia. There clearly is a need for research that addresses the effects of the regulatory environment on aquaculture industries and on alternative forms of regulations that will achieve society's goals without stifling economic growth and development. Such research is an emerging field of study that is critical to sustain global growth of aquaculture. For example, Dresdner and Estay (2016) developed a model that was applied to the regulation of biosecurity in Chile related to salmon net pen production. The analysis highlighted the need to examine the trade-offs between biosecurity measures and profits on salmon net pen farming in Chile to avoid excessively costly regulations and their stifling effect on production while maintaining a high level of biosecurity.

The Journal of the World Aquaculture Society (JWAS) aims to identify solutions to major issues affecting the growth of global aquaculture. Given the relative paucity of research related to regulatory frameworks, JWAS strongly encourages the submission of manuscripts that (1) explore the need for more effective regulatory and enforcement systems, (2) assess the specific effects of existing regulatory and enforcement systems on various sectors of global aquaculture, and (3) identify alternative regulatory and enforcement systems that are based on more economically efficient regulatory processes that support sustainable growth and development of aquaculture.

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About Carole R. Engle

Former JWAS Editor in Chief - Carole Engle has devoted more than 35 years to aquaculture research, extension, and teaching. In addition to publishing more than 110 scientific articles, four books, and more than 80 extension publications, she has a combined 49 years of editorial experience, including serving as Editor-in-Chief of Aquaculture Economics and Management. She has been honored with numerous awards from the U.S. Aquaculture Society, the National Aquaculture Association, the Catfish Farmers of America, and the Catfish Farmers of Arkansas. Engle was on the faculty of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) for more than 27 years and, as Director of the Aquaculture/Fisheries Center and Chairperson of the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries, led it through a period of rapid growth, development, and expansion.