Oysters being farmed by Alaska Shellfish Farms in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
Credit: NOAA Fisheries
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has formally endorsed a set of new global Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture, at a recent meeting of the UN FAO Committee on Fisheries, which took place on 8-12 July in Rome, Italy.
The Guidelines were informed by scientific expertise from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in addition to other stakeholders, to develop global aquaculture best practices.
A recent report by the FAO highlighted that more seafood is now produced through aquaculture than harvested from the wild. With an increasing global reliance on seafood farming for safe and nutritious food, the sustainability of aquaculture has thus become a critical priority, the FAO asserts.
"An increasingly expanding global aquaculture sector is driving the supply of fish and fishery products to new records. In 2022, aquaculture overtook capture fisheries as the main supplier of aquatic animals. Ensuring the expansion of sustainable aquaculture is of fundamental importance for consumers," FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu remarked, opening the July session in Rome.
For its part, NOAA said it aimed to ensure the needs of the North American aquaculture sector were represented while balancing the needs of other countries worldwide.
"Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food production sector globally, driven by technological innovations and growing demand for seafood. As with all forms of agriculture, this rapid growth has exposed challenges for environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Guidelines are needed to ensure aquaculture grows sustainably," NOAA stated in a news announcement.
"This framework addresses these challenges by outlining a plan that benefits people, the ocean, and coastal economies."
The newly-approved Guidelines aim to foster an aquaculture sector that contributes to the fight against global hunger, lifts economies and the living standards of seafood farmers globally, and bolsters resilience to climate change, NOAA said.
The new Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture can now be viewed on the United Nations FAO website.