Globally the demand for seafood is rising, with
projections that aquaculture will provide a steadily increasing
proportion of the supply of seafood for human consumption. With
this likely growth, aquaculture operations will expand to additional
coastal areas and most probably into the exclusive economic zones
(EEZ) of several countries. Progress has been made in evaluating
the ecological risk and economic benefits from aquaculture in coastal
areas, in developing standards for conducting aquaculture operations,
and in exploratory research on the feasibility of offshore mariculture
operations. In this session we want to highlight recent developments
relating to environmentally sustainable aquaculture, research on
aquaculture in the EEZ, and begin to explore marine aquaculture
from an ecosystem perspective. One area of interest is research
and science underpinning harmonization of aquaculture activities
with other human activities that occur in the coastal zone under
the concept of integrated coastal zone management. To examine aquaculture
within this broader context, presentations exploring the interrelationships
between aquaculture and fishery management are also encouraged.
A publication is planned for this session.