AQUACULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF RENEWABLE RESOURCE-MANAGEMENT THEORY

Aquaculture is characterized by a great dependence on the quality and productivity of the environment. Its development also bears a risk of negative environmental impact, such as pollution, landscape modificati on or biodiversity, change. Therefore aquaculture development is subdu ed to an institutional context that defines the rules for the use and conservation of natural resources in aquatic ecosystems: The need to d esign such rules and the appropriate means to implement them is widely recognized today, but an increasing number of conflicts and collapses in relation to environmental issues attests to the difficulties in de signing and implementing efficient environmental or management policie s. Considering the diversity and complexity of issues covered by the t erm ''environmental problems'' in the case of aquaculture, a socioecon omic approach is proposed in this article to review various policy opt ions as envisaged by the theory. This approach refers to the economic theory of externalities and to renewable resources management. It focu ses on institutions and policies intended to regulate competition amon g uses of common property resources. It is illustrated by examples dra wn from the experience of Western European countries about aquaculture development and environmental issues.