Organic Aquaculture
The company is developing in West Africa Organic Shrimp farms; this
unique method which has been developed and used by our project manager
Cesar Villamar Ochoa for over 12 years, in South America is being developed
in Africa for the very first time.
Our
first project is based in Senegal and is being developed with the government
as a social partner, as this project will stimulate and develop the
region both economically and socially.
One of the unique benefits of this organic system is to make use of land that is not profitable for traditional methods of agriculture.The geographical location, quality of water, soil, and a contaminated free enviroment all constitute the right components for a successful project.
This organic technology is going to allow developing countries to improve
their production of natural food source and also an export product without
any damage to the environment.
In our projects there is no use of non organic materials, either in
the food chain, cleaning and maintainance, where we use a mixture of
GARLIC and LIME as a bacterial and disinfecting agent; therefore we
will be able of supply internationally certified - GREEN SEAL - product
that complies to the highest standards. This certificate (NATURLAND)
is most important to enable us to market our products Worldwide.
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the science of aquaculture
aquaculture development policy and governance
policy and governance
key benefits of aquaculture
For more information please visit aquaculture links
and more generally usefull links
The Science of Aquaculture
Organic
aquaculture production is still in its infancy. However, the positive
development and growth of the organic sector in general raises expectations
for future market opportunities also in the organic seafood sector.
The presence of organic products in practically all major conventional
supermarkets confirms that organic products are now going mainstream.
The sector is currently growing at double-digit rates in all Western
markets. The demand for environmentally friendly wild caught and cultured
seafood species is increasing as consumers are becoming more and more
aware of overfishing, environmental degradation and health risks.
Aquaculture development policy and governance
-sustainable development-
Market forces are exerting a strong influence on aquaculture development,
particularly that of commercial and industrial aquaculture. Middle-class
consumers in many developed and developing countries are becoming increasingly
influential and concerned about what they eat and at what cost food
is produced, especially in the case of internationally traded products.
Major importing regions and countries have begun to set stringent standards
and regulations to ensure quality and safety and to reduce the social
and environmental impacts of production. Aspects covered by these standards
include trade in endangered species,labelling for origin, traceability,
the chain of custody and zero tolerance for certain veterinary drug
residues.
In
2002, fish and fishery products represented the largest category (over
25 percent) of food safety and quality alerts in the EU. Aquaculture
products were particularly targeted for veterinary drug residues and
monitoring resulted in the banning of imports from several countries.
Also, considerable progress has been made in the development and adoption
of a range of market strategies – such as product certification,
ecolabelling, ethical or fair trade and organic produce – aimed
at improving the sector’s public image and gaining consumer confidence.
Progress has also been made in addressing sustainability problems through
improved technology – and further progress is expected in the future.
For example, improved management practices have successfully limited
the spread of pathogens from cultured to wild stocks and made it possible
to reduce the use of veterinary drugs in aquaculture production. Nevertheless,
there is still a need to regulate access to veterinary drugs in many
developing countries. There have also been some advances in establishing
effluent standards, improving feed and feeding efficiency and reducing
the nutrient output of farms. Research to reduce the dependency on fishmeal
in aquafeeds has been ongoing since the 1970s and the results are now
being tested with varying degrees of success. Long-term solutions, such
as genetic engineering to propagate plants with more suitable profiles
of amino acids and fatty acids, are also being considered.
Aquaculture appears to be expanding into offshore marine areas in some parts of the world. Several countries have been proactive in developing appropriate offshore aquaculture and ocean policies, including the control of off-site impacts associated with the discharge of effluent and solid wastes and escapees, even prior to embarking on large-scale development. Pilot projects have also been initiated to gather information to guide policy and development. Operating farms in a more socially and environmentally responsible manner and making a tangible contribution to rural development and poverty alleviation in coastal areas are important challenges for the future, especially in developing countries. Many large-scale industrial production systems are becoming more sustainable, while small-scale practices and integrated systems are continuously adapting to the changing perceptions and demand.
The shift to sustainable practices and development strategies remains a work in progress and a common objective. It requires the concerted support of the public sector through the provision of an enabling environment to attract investment in responsible development and encourage innovation. Inadequate resources, the relatively low importance accorded to aquaculture compared with other priority areas in national development plans, conflicts between sustainable aquaculture development and efforts to improve food security and alleviate poverty, and the high cost of compliance for small enterprises number among the possible reasons for slow progress in the development of an enabling environment for responsible aquaculture in many developing countries.
Policy and governance
The aquaculture sector continues to expand, diversify, intensify and advance technologically, and still dominates all other animal-producing sectors in terms of growth. The shift in the perception and objectives of aquaculture development is probably one of the important factors behind this growth. Aquaculture is now perceived not only as an activity for meeting producers’ food needs, but also as part of the engine for economic growth and achieving diverse societal and environmental goals. As the thinking shifted from aquaculture development to aquaculture for development, so did the laws and policies governing the sector.
In the past, development policies focused mainly on production; in contrast, recent global aquaculture governance and policies have tended to target both the supply and demand side of the sector, with sustainable development (economic, social, environmental, legal and institutional) as the desired outcome. On the supply side, it is now recognized that sustainable aquaculture development must be adequately regulated and protected by integrated and effective legal and administrative frameworks, and that enabling public policies and legislation granting investors, inter alia, legal rights to land supporting the farm and to good-quality water are of the highest priority.
A common feature of emerging aquaculture regulations is the obligation to acquire permits or licences to establish a farm. These give farmers the right to establish and operate aquaculture facilities and at the same time allow governments to monitor the environmental sustainable development of aquaculture and to impose conditions that compel farms to be operated towards this end. Many countries, particularly developed countries, are making efforts to simplify the process of obtaining permits, particularly where several agencies are involved. While permits are often mandatory in developed countries, developing countries have introduced permit requirement policies only recently, probably in response to the emergence of industrial commercial farms.
The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, although voluntary, is having significant influence on aquaculture governance and policy. Several mandatory international instruments also have an impact on aquaculture at the national level, particularly with regard to traded aquaculture products and the movement of live organisms and germplasm. For example, the international Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) could restrict the exchange of germplasm and movement of genetically modified organisms.25 Additionally, part of the CBD Programme of Work assesses the consequences of mariculture for marine and coastal biodiversity and promotes techniques that minimize adverse impacts. The WTO has a number of binding agreements which, inter alia, define minimum quality and safety standards for traded aquatic organisms and establish a list of notifiable diseases (the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures).26 Matters of concern to aquaculture in the WTO Agreement on Trade-related Implications of Intellectual Property Rights include the extent to which the agreement allows for the transfer of environmentally sound technology and the patenting of living organisms. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) calls for certificates of origin for cultured species on the endangered list, issued by the competent national authority, before they can be traded.27
At the national level also, aquaculture policies are being established to stimulate development. Many governments have intervened at the macro level by designating aquaculture as a priority area in their economic agendas, defining goals and targets and establishing guiding strategies to achieve them. They have also facilitated reasonable access to credit, provided fiscal incentives and removed institutional constraints (e.g. by establishing effective aquaculture administrative frameworks) (see Box 6). In many instances, however, aquaculture administration still falls under more than one agency, which often hinders progress. At the micro or farm level, governments have intervened with start-up policies such as financing research, providing stocking material and extension and advisory services, and, in some instances, providing loans. The inability of potential entrepreneurs in infant industries to afford the initial investment through their own equity or to obtain private funding, and their lack of absolute and competitive advantage, are often cited as justifications for government intervention at the farm level. Once aquaculture has taken off, farmers have often found it difficult to expand, forcing governments to intervene through expansionary and export promotion policies such as those targeting the lack of availability and/or high costs of essential inputs (feed, seed and capital).
Key Benefits of Aquaculture
- Production of healthy harvests in pollution free environments
- Quantity and quality control of species and distribution
- Defined species management - no wastage or bycatch
- Potential to meet increasing market demands
- Strong financial benefits from rising prices and diminishing supplies
- Alternative source of supply for overfished, high value species
- Minimal impact on the environment
- On land or sea cage options
- Accessible Global expertise and research resources.
Aquaculture Links
www.revistaaquatic.com
- Pages related to Cesar Villamar Ochoa are: 10, 11, 12, 21
www. aquatext.com
- Aquaculture dictionary
www. aquafeed.com
- Aquafeed industry site
www.
aquamag.com - Industry-related publications
www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/afsaqua.htm
- AFSIC Aquaculture Resources - NAL USDA
www.marine.csiro.au/aquaculture/intro.html
- CSIRO Aquaculture Introduction, Specific information from the
CSIRO on aquaculture and marine research.
General links
europa.eu.int/comm/dg14/dg14.htm
- EU site
europa.eu.int/comm/dg06/index.htm
- EU site
vm.cfsan.fda.gov/seafood1.html
- FDA - CFSAN (Centre for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition)
www.fda.gov - US
Food and Drugs Administration
www.fda.gov/ora/ora_home_page.html
- Directly links to the FDA compliance policy guides and regulatory
procedures manual.
www.marsource.maris.int
- MARSOURCE Official information on EU fishery sector
www.who.int/fst/index.htm
- Excellent resources on global food safety issues
www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/21/ch9.html
- US Code Title 21- Food and Drugs, Includes direct link to the 21 USC
Chapter 9 - Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
www.europa.eu.int
- For information on the production and marketing of fish and fishery
products
foodnet.fic.ca -
FoodNet; Links to the HACCP computerised management system
nsgd.gso.uri.edu
- National Sea Grant Depository: The site includes a searchable Sea
Grant database, Sea Grant links, video collections and a link to the
HACCP digital library
www.mdsg.umd.edu/nsgo/index.html
- National Sea Grant Office: Links to the home page of the National
Sea Grant Program website.
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