Medidas de Gestao das Pescarias Marinhas e Aquicultura 2019 The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018 | Page 160

PART 3 HIGHLIGHTS OF ONGOING STUDIES
Examining the impacts of small-scale aquaculture on
households, communities and the environment:
testing the Nha Trang indicators
and technical knowledge and expertise.
Concerning indicator 12, related to the role of
women, some small-scale aquaculture systems
provided an opportunit y for women to assume
major decision-making roles, for example in
obtaining loans, managing household expenses,
farm record keeping and sale and allocation of
fish har vest.
A set of case studies (FAO, forthcoming) used
the Nha Trang indicators to examine the
contribution of small-scale aquaculture to the
five livelihood assets for different small-scale
systems in China (pond freshwater polyculture,
integrated fish farming system), the Philippines
(seaweed, tilapia in cages), Thailand (freshwater
pond finfish polyculture, catfish in plastic-lined
ponds) and Viet Nam (tiger shrimp ponds,
lobster in cages, shrimp–finfish ponds). Results
revealed the complex, multi-faceted impact of
small-scale aquaculture on households,
communities and the environment.
As a whole, the results showed the tremendous
diversit y of small-scale aquaculture activities
across commodities, production systems and
locations, which makes measuring the
contributions to sustainable rural development
often challenging. The Nha Trang indicators are a
useful step in this direction, but further
refinements are needed to make the system more
adaptable to the intricacies of diverse small-scale
aquaculture systems. n
The impacts on natural capital were mixed. Some
aquaculture systems (in China, Thailand and Viet
Nam) adopted sustainabilit y-enhancing practices
such as reuse of water and material f lows, while
others (in Viet Nam and the Philippines)
contributed to nutrient loading, threatening
environmental harm.
REALIZING
AQUACULTURE’S
POTENTIAL
The impacts on on-farm physical capital
formation were likewise mixed, with growth seen
in some study sites and contraction in others.
Most of the systems studied, except those in Viet
Nam, showed negligible changes in farms and
farm areas. Small-scale aquaculture did not
usually develop infrastructure, but the sector
benefited from existing infrastructure.
With most fisher y stocks expected to remain
maximally sustainably fished or overfished for at
least the next decade, aquaculture must bridge
the growing gap between supplies of aquatic food
and demand from a growing and wealthier global
population. Aquaculture has the potential to
address the gap between aquatic food demand
and supply and to help countries achieve their
economic, social and environmental goals, thus
contributing to the 2030 Agenda (Hambrey, 2017;
FAO, 2017c).However, the growth of aquaculture
raises a number of questions in relation to the
resources that it consumes (e.g. space, feedstuffs),
its products (see “Fish for food securit y and
human nutrition” in Part 2) and the threats that
the sector faces from external factors such as
climate change and disease.
In terms of human capital, some but not all
small-scale aquaculture systems contributed to
seasonal food securit y.
The financial capital indicators formed a clear
pattern. Intensive (Type 2) aquaculture systems
generated the highest cash income and net
returns, but these were highly variable (and the
systems therefore more risky). These systems
showed profitabilit y (although small) and
improvement in household cash f low.
Aquaculture spatial planning and area
management
The studies also showed that small-scale
aquaculture encourages formation of communit y
farmer organizations, women’s empowerment
and voice in economic enterprise, networks and
collective action. Small-scale aquaculture fosters
social harmony through the sharing of har vest
The abilit y of aquaculture to meet future demand
for food will to some extent depend on the
availabilit y of space. Common space-related
problems that limit aquaculture development
include: introduction and spread of aquatic
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