World Aquaculture Magazine - September 2021

WWW.WA S .ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEP TEMBER 2021 45 such as coastal oceans, lakes and preserves, whether or not they are protected by laws and regulations. These special areas of our humanity are protected by our common source of values and ethics. In the terrestrial sphere of Earth, the world’s last remaining glorious biodiversity is threatened by agriculture and much is unprotected by any types of laws or enforcement actions. Agriculture’s future expansion is projected to consume all of the world’s remaining fertile lands (Bruinsma 2009). Despite there being plenty of food, agriculture scientists rely upon a continued expansion of arable lands into what are called “unfavorable agroecological lands and often also unfavorable socioeconomic environments” (Bruinsma 2009); in other words, into the Earth’s last remaining natural, terrestrial ecosystems, parks and bioreserves for Nature (Morton et al. 2008). Bruinsma (2009) states that about 90 percent of the remaining 1.8 billion ha of available arable lands is in Sub-Saharan Africa and South America, and “half is concentrated in just seven countries (Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Sudan, Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia).” These countries are expanding industrial agriculture for non-food exports, e.g., oil palm, biofuels and soybeans. “ Continued consumption and degradation of lands for terrestrial agriculture and urban development will destroy the world’s remaining terrestrial and coastal biodiversity and novel ecosystems and threaten human health and wellness into the future unless we plan for and invest in the development of ocean foods ecosystems for planetary survival. ” Barry Costa-Pierce, Keynote at the World Nutrition Forum (2016) Aquaculture ethics is embedded deeply into the rise of anti- aquaculture Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). While there are areas for aquaculture that are well planned spatially by environmental models (of oceanography, discharges to surface waters, water quality, etc.), there are much fewer area designated as marine/aquatic protected areas (MPAs) illegal to develop aquaculture. And here’s where the transdisciplinary complexity comes in as there are MPAs that may be unsuitable for fishing gears of some types but suitable for aquaculture of low trophic level species. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) asked, “Under what circumstances can MPAs and aquaculture come together? How could MPAs boost aquaculture growth? How could aquaculture activities provide financial support to MPAs? And how can we minimize negative interactions?” (Loffoley et al. 2019). There are many suitable sites for producing high quality aquatic proteins globally that add value to people and Nature. When aquaculture locates and dismantles a national park in Thailand (see the cover photo of Pullin et al. 1995), or fights for space in national parks of Patagonia (Milazzo et al. 2021) or other global treasures, we lose any ability to negotiate for small, well-planned spaces in common property areas. Rachel Carson (1962) said “we are all part of Nature and war against Nature is inevitably a war against ourselves.” Lubchenco (1998) called for implementation in the 21st century of a “new social contract for science” that would “facilitate the investigation of complex, interdisciplinary problems that span multiple spatial and temporal scales; to encourage interagency and international cooperation on societal problems; and to construct more effective bridges between policy, management and science, as well as between the public and private sectors. Most of our efforts to address economic and social problems are as yet devoid of ecological knowledge.” Showing theGreat Potential isNot Enough Moehl et al. (2006) estimated that West Africa had a surface water potential of more than 97 billion m 3 with 117,000 ha of surface irrigation schemes suitable for rice-fish farming and fish culture in canals. There were more than 200,000 ha of other types of irrigation schemes and suitable inland valleys. Unfortunately, because of the sectoral nature of political, policy and management regimes, both international and national organizations have developed no specific policies nor carried out research specifically related to the development of integrated aquaculture in water supply, delivery or irrigation schemes (Brugere 2006). She states that “Regardless of how irrigation is practiced, its development is no longer seen in isolation from other issues but in conjunction with broader perspectives of increased food production, environmental sustainability and poverty alleviation.” Meeting theRegulations isNot Enough Savvy businesses know that their development plans for production may be accepted by permitting agencies but not by the public. Aquaculture can gain more rapid acceptance if its designed plans are more ecological and comprehensive so that they can not only develop but also evolve as an integral part of —not separate from— farmers, shermen, sustainable community development and the future of working waterfronts. Aquaculture’s modern development and future success cannot simply be de ned as having simply met the regulations or developed successfully the hatchery, feed (if fed aquaculture) and marketing components important in traditional business plans — the old alignment of the “seed, feed, and the need.” Rather, a design for a sustainable, ecological aquaculture development has to nurture society’s success for the triple bottom line of economic, environmental and social pro ts (Dasgupta and Maler 2004) (Fig. 2). ( C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 4 6 ) FIGURE 2. As commercial aquaculture developed over the last 50 years in areas it was “new,” the development/regulatory/political agenda shifted from its acceptance as an economically successful business to a social-ecological enterprise answerable to many of society’s concerns about its broader impacts.