Aquaculture and global value chain: bibliometric analysis using the VOSviewer

Abstract

This study aims to map and identify trends in the worldwide scientific production related to Global Value Chain (GVC) approach and aquaculture. A bibliometric analysis was employed using articles and reviews from the Scopus database. The software VOSviewer was used to visualize authors, institutions, journals, country distribution, references, and keywords. As results, the study analyzed the co-citation of authors in 29 publications and found that Gary Gereffi and Stefano Ponte were consistently cited together, indicating their importance in the GVC approach literature. Additionally, in the aquaculture field the analysis showed a greater centrality of researchers such as Simon R. Bush, David C. Little and Ben Belton. Five thematic groups were identified through bibliometric analysis of keyword co-occurrence in the literature. These include GVC and aquaculture topics, as well as clusters focused on GVC pillars (upgrading and governance). The last cluster is concerned primarily with production systems and certification standards for aquaculture farms. Additionally, we identified emerging topics in the literature that we believe could be connected to COVID-19. Finally, we argue that aquaculture needs significant changes in regulations, management and financing to be sustainable. In this sense, investigations that examine aquaculture value chains under a holistic GVC approach can help achieve this goal.