Sustainable Aquaculture Governance and Economic Development

Sustainable aquaculture governance encompasses the legal, institutional and market mechanisms that guide the growth of aquatic food production while safeguarding environmental integrity and social equity. Effective governance frameworks balance regulatory standards, stakeholder participation and scientific monitoring to promote responsible practices such as site planning, disease control and feed optimisation. Economic development in this sector is driven by innovations in technology, supply-chain traceability and value-added processing, which enhance productivity and open new markets without exacerbating ecological pressures. Public authorities, industry groups and local communities cooperate through co-management arrangements, certification schemes and public–private partnerships to align economic incentives with conservation goals. At a global scale, robust governance underpins investment in infrastructure, fosters risk management against climate impacts and ensures that small-scale producers gain fair access to resources and markets. By integrating ecosystem services valuation, adaptive policy instruments and capacity-building initiatives, sustainable aquaculture can deliver protein security, rural livelihoods and blue-economy growth while maintaining the resilience of coastal and freshwater systems.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Sustainable Aquaculture Governance and Economic Development publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in sustainable aquaculture governance and economic development across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: The release of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that contribute to the radiative forcing of the atmosphere and influence climate dynamics.

Vector autoregressive (VAR) model: A statistical framework that captures interdependencies among multiple time-series variables, allowing each variable to be expressed as a linear function of its own past values and those of other variables in the system.

Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC): A hypothesised relationship in which environmental degradation first increases and then decreases as national income rises, forming an inverted-U trajectory.

References

1. Aquaculture production, GHG emission and economic growth in Sub-Sahara Africa. Environmental Challenges (2023).
2. Environmental Regulation, Technological Innovation and Development of Marine Fisheries—Evidence from Ten Coastal Regions in China. Fishes (2022).
3. Impact of the Climate Change on the Production of the Fishing and Aquaculture Sectors of Latin America. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy (2023).