Greetings

Global aquaculture production has grown rapidly and is now among the fastest growing food production sectors in many countries, and contributs to food security, poverty alleviation and socioeconomic development.

Of all the global food production systems, aquaculture is widely perceived as an important weapon in the global fight against poverty and hunger. Aquaculture production, especially pond aquaculture may be a dependable source of obtaining increased fish production in order to supply and feed the ever increasing population of the world

Dear A. Ahmed,

Aquaculture is probably the best source of sustainable livelihood for communities, as long as the technology is in place, and it is environment friendly.

Keeping our natural resources pristine and abundant is another best practice as source of livelihood for community members who depend on wild resources for food and livelihood. However, it is always a great challenge to balance biodiversity and the amount of extracts from the wild.

Growing countries still use the hunting mode of obtaining food and livelihood or trade, but unabated exploitation of our finite natural resources is unsustainable, hence we need a strategy to produce food to our growing human population, of which responsible aquaculture can provide a sustained supply of food (just like livestock/agriculture). This could be a good solution to the problem. I hope this could be of help.

Ben

Hello,

Aquaculture id definitely helping us to solve rural livelihood sustainability.....

1) as it is less capital intensive

2) aquaculture can be taken up in waste water bodies, quarry areas, abandoned trenches

3) polyculture can be undertaken with great benefits

4) fish is a rich source of protein so it will help in eradicating malnutrition in rural areas

5) fish grows continuously in water and hence the farmers can harvest in a limited way so it acts as an ATM for the farmers who can get daily income

Yes, R K Patil is right, at the moment we are helping seaweed farmers to combine their seaweed farming with abalone culture, of which they will spend almost the same time and energy in producing naturally fed abalone.

Moreover, some of the seaweed farmers were mangrove charcoal makers, who switched from mangrove cutting to seaweed farming. This is the reason why we keep on assisting them to have a successful and sustainable livelihood, so that we can lessen the impact to mangrove forests and at the same time provide food and source of income for the poor coastal communities.

guys, what about the aquaculture fish farming, particularly fresh water

When you engage in freshwater aquaculture, same principles may apply as of that of seawater. Off course they have different water characteristics, but the services and products that freshwater aquaculture will offer to the communities as livelihood would be more or less similar to that of the marine culture (mariculture). In our country, Tilapia is one of the most popular fish cage culture for livelihood.

thanks your explanation Mr. Benjamin

Unlike capture fisheries the basic concept of aquaculture itself is based on sustainability. It promotes sustainable use of resources – the seed for the culture or young fish are either produced by controlled breeding or obtained from the natural water bodies (as in extensive culture) and are reared till marketable size. In developing countries this is achieved using effective utilisation of the available resourses like fresh water ponds, reservoirs, flood plains, paddy fields, salt affected derelict water bodies etc. All these are providing increased job opportunities as well as additional income to those in the field.

Some examples of aquaculture as ameans for providing sustainable livelihood are paddy cum fish culture practised in India (states like Bengal and Kerala), utilisation of salt affected derelict water bodies for brackish water fish species, practises like pen culture for fish in ponds and other common water bodies as well as reservoir fisheries which provide livelihood to the less privileged tribal groups residing in the forest of India.

I totally agree with Suja. In order to have a systematic approach on this, it is advisable to draw an aquaculture project plan taking into account, the sustainability, environment, marketing, governance, impact to community etc.

Good Luck Dr. Ahmed!

By all means aquaculture helps in creating employment, provides the much needed cheap animal proteins and at the same time it acts as a food security safety net.

Aquaculture for community livelihood is a perfect framework to help communities. Our experiences say that the community must be prepared to handle aquaculture projects from technology to marketing, and also financial management. Hence, a doable business plan will be helpful.

thanks all of you. therefore, can sustainable livelihood approach be applied on understanding aquaculture fish farming?

Yes.

not all aquaculture is sustainable, not all aquaculture promotes livelihoods for rural communities. Intensive forms of shrimp aquaculture have displaced local communities through companies that want to make a quick buck. This happened in many sub-tropical and tropical countries. It often leads to to the pollution to groundwater through antibiotics and insufficient waste management. I agree that this does not need to be like this, and could provide livelihood opportunities to communities. There should be more efforts that this could happen.