Bangkok 17-25 November 2004
Task force on Aquaculture in the Mediterranean
Bangkok, Thailand, 22 november 2004 (IUCN) - There is mounting scientific evidence of the sharp decline in the Mediterranean fish catches. However, fish farming turns up as a possible solution to answer the growing demand for seafood that catching fish cannot provide.
A group of experts on aquaculture in the Mediterranean made up of Denis Lacroix (France), Chedly Rais (Tunisia), Abdelhafid Chalabi (Argelia) and François Simard (IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, IUCN-Med) presented at the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress the outcomes of the Barcelona workshop on Mediterranean Aquaculture held last May. They also exchanged ideas with the Asian group of experts.
This Mediterranean group is working on developing sustainable criteria to be applied by the aquaculture industry in the Mediterranean. "There is an increasing demand for aquaculture as in the other parts of the world, but the specific problems in the Mediterranean lies in space competition with tourist sector. The Mediterranean is one of the favourite destinations for more than 200 millions people. In coastal waters, there can be potential conflicts between tourism facilities and the aquaculture industry", commented François Simard, Marine Coordinator of IUCN-Med.
Also, the Mediterranean aquaculture industry will need to deal with the problem of water scarcity North African countries. More research is needed to link science to practical application to get better use of water in aquaculture production. Both water use efficiency and water productivity within aquaculture systems could be greatly improved through technology development.
The fish-farming sector in the Mediterranean will have to overcome environmental and, in some extents, social problems, most of them derived from the rapid development of fish farming. Most of experts thinked that these problems can be solved through a better integrated management.
The IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation announced at the Congress
that it will organize a workshop on Aquaculture in the Mediterranean region
to be held in Argelia by the end of March next year.
Related
documents:
From
Strategy to Reality: Developing European Aquaculture. François
Simard.
Athens, May 29-30, 2003
Planning
and Management for sustainable coastal aquaculture. Joint Group of
Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP).
2001.
Aquaculture
planning in Mediterranean countries = Planification de l'aquaculture
dans les pays méditerranéens Zaragoza. CIHEAM-IAMZ,
1999. 188 p. (Cahiers Options Méditerranéennes ; v. 43).
Workshop of the CIHEAM Network on Socio-economic and Legal Aspects of
Aquaculture in the Mediterranean (SELAM), 1998/03/12-14, Tangiers (Morocco)
Mediterranean aquaculture: marine fish farming. By Bernardo BASURCO.
Links:
Information System for the Promotion
of Aquaculture in the Mediterranean
Federation of European Aquaculture
Producers
Aquamedia
For further information, please contact François Simard