Selecting priorities, indicators and criteria to monitor sustainable aquaculture development lessons learned from selected case studies in the Mediterranean

Year 2020, Volume: 3 Issue: 2, 62 - 74, 31.05.2020

Fabio Massa Pablo Avila Zaragozá Davide Fezzardi Houssam Hamza Guzel Yucel Gier Jose Carlos Macias Hayri Déniz Milena Krasic Milica Mandic Scander Ben Salem Nicoletta Milone Aurora Nastası Fabrizio Caruso Linda Fourdain

Abstract

Aquaculture sustainability builds upon its
environmental, economic, sociological and governance dimensions and although
the recent global interest in aquaculture sustainability has arisen due to the
rapid expansion of the sector, lack of consensus and diverging conflicts among
stakeholders have often compromised and lessen the achievement of real actions
to ensure the sustainable development of aquaculture. The use of indicators in
aquaculture is considered one of the most appropriate tools to monitor and assess
the growth of sustainable aquaculture activities. In this study, we present the
main outcomes of a broad project implemented by the General Fisheries
Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) called “Indicators for the sustainable
development of aquaculture and guidelines for their use in the Mediterranean”
(2008-2015), with emphasis on the relevance of the process that – in the areas
of several Mediterranean riparian countries – has led to the selection and
identification of a pool of indicators for monitoring the sustainable
aquaculture development from an initial regional reference system of 156 indicators.
The development of case studies at the local level based on PCI approach
(Principles-Criteria- Indicators) has allowed among other things to identify
the main steps that were necessary to build local consensus on the selection,
implementation and performance assessment of aquaculture indicators, with the involvement
of key stakeholders. In the case studies, the 156 selected indicators and
related criteria were ranked by the local stakeholders based on their
perception and understanding the local priorities at the time of the case
studies to achieve the sustainable development of aquaculture in each area. Based
on the importance of the criteria by the stakeholders, we studied the order of
relevance assigned to the indicators for one of each of the four pillar of
aquaculture sustainability (governance, social, economic and environmental). Several
direct and indirect positive effects deriving from the implementation of
aquaculture indicators are presented. Furthermore, the work carried out
highlighted also that the identification and use of indicators and criteria
applied is an evolving process reflecting the dynamic status of aquaculture development
and the perception of its sustainability at the time in which the indicators
are identified. The work was carried out consistently with the
participatory approach principles and focusing on the criteria associated to
the social acceptability of aquaculture considered an integral part of
sustainability.

Keywords

Aquaculture, Sustainable development, Mediterranean Sea, Indicators

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