The FAO''s GLOBEFISH has produced a new report which aims to serve as the basis for arriving at recommendations for reducing uncertainty about its products and farming practices.
The report, Perceptions and misconceptions of aquaculture, provides a global overview and synthesis of studies on perceptions of aquaculture in both developed and developing countries.
It also provides specific recommendations for addressing the public concerns indemnified and discusses the roles various key stakeholders can play in the process.
Findings from the study show that personal experience, preconceived ideas and the demographic and regional content strongly influence perceptions of aquaculture.
There are customer concerns regarding health and safety aspects of farmed products, and evidence is mixed on whether people perceive aquaculture as causing environmental and animal welfare problems.
The public debate on aquaculture has focused mainly on risks, often lacking a balanced evaluation of costs and benefits, which is a problem for how people perceive the industry.
It concluded that to improve public awareness of aquaculture, the industry needs to be more open and it believes that broader dialogue will increase transparency in the sector.
Greater synergy and cooperation are needed among the various subsectors of aquaculture, this is so the sector can speak with one voice and have a loader spoken word.
The study addressed that while social and environmental issues are very much still yet to be addressed, it is important to put aquaculture in a wider perspective by comparing its costs and benefits with other animal production systems.
