World Aquaculture Magazine - September 2021

WWW.WA S .ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEP TEMBER 2021 47 used in the management arena, but not necessarily by the public (Byron et al. 2011). Science is much more likely to be accepted if there are agreed upon, cooperative aquaculture research frameworks that combine efforts of scientists and farmers as the drivers of a participatory process. Interactions of some differing types of carrying capacities with the scientific approaches and the interest groups who define “acceptability” of aquaculture are outlined (Fig. 4). Regulatory carrying capacity is added as a new type and defined by rigorous risk analysis and communication protocols (GESAMP 2008). Social carrying capacity has been defined as the amount of aquaculture that can be developed without adverse social impacts. Ecological degradation or adverse changes to ecosystems due to aquaculture may inhibit social uses. The point at which alternative social uses become prohibitive due to level, density or placement of aquaculture farms is the social carrying capacity of aquaculture (Byron et al. 2011). Gibbs et al. (2007) recognized the importance of economics in carrying capacity determinations and defined an economic carrying capacity as the “the amount of money investors are willing to invest, and the monetary value associated with sellable products and ecosystem services.” Social carrying capacity was determined for Rhode Island (USA) waters through a stakeholder process (Byron et al. 2011) that included commercial fishing, recreational fishing, environmental groups, academia, riparian landowners, policymakers and other groups who agreed upon a level of shellfish aquaculture that would not restrict or inhibit use to any group. Analytical methods for determinations of social carrying capacity remain in development. Kite-Powell (2009) placed a monetary value on various ecosystem uses and calculated the social carrying capacity at which relative value for all uses was maximized. This included assigning value not only to commercial products but also to ecosystem services and other intrinsic and tacit values associated with the system or use of the system. If aquaculture is constrained by social values, an index of social values needs to be developed that can be as scientifically credible as any ecological or water quality suitability index. Fortunately, scientists who study the human dimensions of resource use have developed such an index for the social context of grey wolf reintroduction in Colorado, USA (Manfredo et al. 2021). They developed state and county maps that represented public interest in policy decisions that informed management actions that targeted identified human behaviors. These techniques are broadly applicable to aquaculture. Agricultural extension services and NGOs continue to lead in developing innovative participatory processes. The Healthy Food Policy Project (healthyfoodpolicyproject. org) is a notable example. They have developed a template to measure “authentic resident engagement” that will drive transformational change in food policy (Table 1). The Project defines authentic resident engagement as an “inclusive process for informing, designing, implementing and evaluating food access policy changes that centers around residents… moving beyond participatory practices and acknowledging the deficiencies of policy and advocacy organizations, government officials and others to embrace the capacity, knowledge and experience already present in dynamic and resilient communities.” Conclusions “ However far modern science and techniques have fallen short of their inherent possibilities, they have taught mankind at least one lesson; nothing is impossible. ” Lewis Mumford (1934) “ Most of the work still to be done in science and the useful arts is precisely that which needs knowledge and cooperation of many scientists and disciplines. That is why it is necessary for scientists and technologists in different disciplines to meet and work together, even those in branches of knowledge which seem to have least relation and connection with one another. ” Antoine Lavoisier (1793) We can increase the social license for aquaculture in common property resources in aquaculture’s new geographies. To do so, aquaculture natural and social science needs to tie together community knowledge and industry-relevant outreach with applied academic scholarship to create transdisciplinary, knowledge-based infrastructures and support systems for aquaculture development in common property areas. Aquaculture’s evolution towards social, economic and ecological sustainability depends on innovative farmers, supportive policymakers and social institutions, educators, researchers, bankers and consumers all working together in well- designed participatory groups to influence adoption. Pioneering research in agroecology, agroecosystems and farming systems and the use of participatory technology development frameworks and methodologies provide a roadmap for achieving an accelerated social license for aquaculture. Farmers everywhere experiment, adapt, innovate and observe the results of their work—and they have been doing so for centuries. Farmers must be able to adapt to continuously changing conditions to evolve sustainability. Farmers have invaluable indigenous FIGURE 4. A framework of different types of carrying capacities for aquaculture, scientific tools available and stakeholder groups involved. Greatest aquaculture yields occur when models predict maximum farm production for given input variables and ecological, regulatory and social concerns are less. Potential aquaculture yields decrease as the value of ecological, regulatory and social concerns are equal to or exceed the importance of aquatic food production. In North America and Europe, social carrying capacity drives determinations of production carrying capacity in aquaculture and there is a strong interaction between all types of carrying capacities. Elsewhere in the world, such limits on production carrying capacity are much less but are also increasing. ( C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 4 8 )