Social and economic policy issues relevant to marine aquaculture

This paper presents a critical review of current social, economic and polic y issues relevant to marine aquaculture (mariculture) in Europe. Tools for identifying the full range of social, economic and environmental issues tha t influence the sustainable development of mariculture are examined. Under present sectoral approaches to policy, investment, development planning and natural resources management, these issues continue to be treated in isola tion. The four main challenges presented in this paper are: (i) how to crea te a more objective information base with which to assess the social, econo mic and environmental factors that condition the sustainability of maricult ure; (ii) how to provide information from different disciplines in an easy to obtain and compatible format; (iii) how to better integrate knowledge an d skills from different disciplines to create a holistic and robust framewo rk for assessing options for mariculture development that integrates social , economic and environmental parameters; and (iv) the effective integration of these assessments into the formulation of policy, investment strategies , spatial plans and natural resources management for coastal areas. Specific issues that need to be addressed within the framework for the inte grated evaluation of the economic, social and environmental parameters gove rning the sustainable development of mariculture include: development of more accurate information on the economic, social and enviro nmental benefits and costs of well-planned and managed mariculture; clearer definition of gaps in existing knowledge on factors critical to the sustainable and equitable development of mariculture; development of pro-active consideration of the coastal land and water resou rce requirements of mariculture as part of strategic economic planning, spa tial planning and natural resources management; the need for more equitable treatment of mariculture regarding rights of ac cess to sites for development and use of resources; development of awareness among decision-makers, planners, and managers from different sectoral agencies of the contribution that mariculture may make in promoting the sustainable use of coastal ecosystems; promotion of a shift in emphasis away from controlling the end use of resou rces and toward a more balanced approach to coastal development where empha sis is also given to maintaining the health and productivity of coastal eco systems and the resources they generate that sustain different forms of act ivity, including mariculture.