Opportunities And Barriers To The Development Of Organic Aquaculture

Summary

This study considers the context of organic aquaculture worldwide from an economic perspective. We present an analysis of the current situation of aquaculture production and the main results from a systematic review of the literature concerning economic issues in organic aquaculture.Results show that profitability in organic aquaculture is not assured for all aquaculture species, and the feed and fixed costs should be balanced by adequate price premiums. Socio-economic aspects of organic aquaculture are mostly relevant in developing countries. Even if consumers show a positive attitude towards organic seafood, consumers knowledge of organic aquaculture standards is still limited. Dedicated research, competitiveness of organic fish farming and marketing activities (in order to develop consumer knowledge) need to be improved to ensure the future development of organic aquaculture, and efforts should be made to simplify the regulatory framework.