Abstract
Aquaculture production can yield significant economic, social and environmental effects. These exceed the financial costs and benefits aquaculture producers are faced with. We propose a methodology for the development of integrated production models that allow for the inclusion of the socio-economic and environmental effects of aquaculture into the production management. The methodology develops on a Social Cost-Benefit Analysis context and it includes three parts: i) environmental, that captures the interactions of aquaculture with the environment, ii) economic, that makes provision for the incorporation of economic determinants in the production models and iii) social, that introduces the social preferences to the production and management process. Alternatives to address data availability issues are also discussed. The methodology extends the assessment of the costs and benefits of aquaculture beyond pure financial metrics and beyond the quantification of private costs and benefits. It can also support the development of integrated models of aquaculture production that take into consideration both the private and the social costs and benefits associated with externalities and effects not appropriately captured by market mechanisms. The methodology can support aquaculture management and policies targeting sustainable and efficient aquaculture production and financing from an economic, financial, social and environmental point of view.
Highlights
Aquaculture management often targets output maximization rather than profit maximization
Toward this end we develop a methodology for the conceptualization, the identification and the monetization of the socio-economic and the environmental impact of aquaculture and for its combination with the production models of aquaculture, taking into account data and computational resources at reach
The proposed approach aims at: (i) extending the identification of the costs and benefits of aquaculture beyond pure financial metrics and monetary terms, and (ii) extending the modeling of aquaculture production beyond the quantification of private costs and benefits and including in the analysis the social costs and benefits. In this way: (i) it can be produced integrated models of aquaculture production that take into consideration both the private costs and benefits and the social costs and benefits associated with externalities and effects not appropriately captured by market-driven functions and factors, and (ii) it can be provided quantified insights to the social costs and benefits that producers internalize or can internalize, which can complement policies targeting aquaculture management and financing
Summary
Aquaculture management often targets output maximization rather than profit maximization. This tactic is economically inefficient but may be associated with social and ecological risks. Aquaculture depends directly, and impacts, on the availability and the quality of the marine resources and the environment. It interacts with socio-economic parameters in a way that the costs and the benefits of aquaculture extend beyond monetary expenditures and revenues. There is a general consensus among policy makers and resource managers that the sustainability of ecological and economic systems is tightly coupled.
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