Developing organic aquaculture in tropical regions: constraints and potential

Abstract

The ever-increasing attention on seafood products security in tropical countries followed by the consequences of using banned chemical (e.g. antibiotics, sulphur drugs) has led to the ban of seafood exports to Europe and Japan resulting in great financial loss to fish fanners. In this context organic aquaculture production is gaining recognition as a relatively friendly production system compared with the conventional intensive aquaculture production. However the current organic aquaculture standards were established by western certification organizations that were mainly oriented to meet the needs and conditions of temperate species. It is not appropriate to apply these standards directly to tropical aquaculture because the nature of operations and species involved are different. Although there is a very strong argument that organic standards for tropical aquaculture should be established in situ, this paper analyses the potential and constraints of developing organic aquaculture for tropical fish farmers based on the current situation.