Page 55 - FAO Aquaculture News, May 2021 - No. 63

Aquaculture Parks:

From Planning to Industrial Cluster

business cluster, first popularized by Michael ii) In 2001, the concept of a “mariculture park” was
P
A orter in the 1990s, is a geographic concentration first initiated by the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries
of interconnected businesses, suppliers and associated and Aquatic Resources in the coastal waters of
institutions in a particular field, wherein enough Samal Island in Davao del Norte with three floating
resources and competencies have amassed to reach a cages stocked with milkfish for demonstration. In
critical threshold. A business cluster holds a key position 2009–2011, marine aquaparks in the Philippines were
in a given economic area and has a decisive sustainable developed through project-supported activities; the
plan is still applicable for guiding the allocation of
competitive advantage over other locations. Aquaculture
Thematic Articles business cluster specifically focused on aquaculture, and iii) In Uganda, under the national aquaculture policy,
marine cages, although it is not fully implemented due
parks, also named aquaparks, are a type of this modern
to lack of adequate investment.
this concept has been introduced and practiced in many
the Government sought to identify and map out areas
countries. Aquaparks aim to improve the sustainable
development of the aquaculture sector in several ways.
for concentrated aquaculture production, akin to
Perhaps most importantly they support governance
industrial or business parks, dedicated for the purpose
of commercial aquaculture development, both for
and decision-making in a specific geographical area,
especially in identifying Allocated Aquaculture Zones
(AZA), supporting site selection, licensing and permitting,
the European Union has supported the establishment
of two aquapark projects, one for cages and one for
and facilitating environmental monitoring processes and land and water-based aquaculture. Starting in 2016,
reporting. Aquaculture relies not only on natural resources pond fish farming. The projects aim to improve the
but also on skilled human resources and various services, infrastructure to support aquaculture development,
for example seed and feed supply, veterinary services, such as road access, electrification, irrigation and
machinery, processing and marketing. Arranging these technical components, such as a hatchery, feed mills,
supporting services in an organized area can reduce veterinary services and marketing facilities.
costs, build synergies and incubate further development. iv) In Zambia, the revised Zambia National Aquaculture
Geographical identification of aquaculture products, Development Plan (2015–2020) aims at improving
including branding, quality monitoring and marketing, is aquaculture’s contribution to national food and
also facilitated through an aquaculture cluster approach. nutrition security, poverty reduction, national
Aquaparks improve coordination, collaboration and economic growth and the balance of trade. The
organization among aquaculture value chain actors Government has established four pilot aquaculture
by clustering production and supporting services in a parks which are intended to create employment
geographically designated area, with the aim of supporting opportunities through commercial and value addition
overall aquaculture development. in the aquaculture subsector in the country.
v) In China, the aquapark concept was developed
Brief evolution of aquaculture parks: based on the demand of small-scale farmers, and
i) In the 2000s, Brazil adopted an aquapark planning focused on food production, improved income and
strategy and identified locations for aquaparks in poverty reduction. The Government guided the
several reservoir areas, specifying site, area, farm planning and provided technical and financial support
distance, species, stocking and feeding rate. The for infrastructure improvements, such as roads,
aquaparks mainly focused on spatial planning electricity, irrigation systems and technical training.
supporting site selection and space allocation for Through public-private partnership mechanisms,
aquaculture, which was based on natural biomass investment was directed to local hatcheries, feed
carrying capacity and facilitated by improved mills and processing factories, which require high
protection from intervention by other sectors. levels of skilled labour, technical professionals
and large investments. As a result, farmers could
enjoy the advantage of infrastructure and technical
services, as well as improved business models and
Written by: risk management. There are several models of
Xinhua Yuan aquaparks in China, differing according to the local
E-mail: Xinhua.Yuan@fao.org environment, type of aquaculture, available resources
Weimin Miao and stakeholder demand. Some examples include
E-mail: Weimin.Miao@fao.org aquaparks of terraced rice-fish farming, aquaparks
Bin Hao with coastal communities for yellow-croaker cage
E-mail: Bin.Hao@faor.org
culture, and aquaparks with solar panels and crab
FAO Fisheries Division, Rome, Italy
farming. These aquaparks can have extended

54 FAO AQUACULTURE NEWS – Nº. 63 ■ MAY 2021