Ecologically balanced aquaculture for the rehabilitation of Asian fisheries

摘要

The recent destruction of coastal fisheries and aquaculture in South Asia has been immense (Phillips and Budhiman 2005, Stobutzki and Hall 2005; further reports available on the web in the sites of NACA, FAO, SEAFDEC and BOBP-IGO). The effect was exacerbated in many areas by changed coastal morphology stemming from urban settlement and industries. The governments of the affected countries and relevant international organizations announced the need for investments to rebuild fisheries and aquaculture (Stobutzki and Hall 2005). Scientists and aid agencies have volunteered their help (Pearson 2005). However, even with the best intentions, the governments of the region shouldn't rebuild the fisheries as they were before the tsunami, inasmuch as those were unsustainable. The pre-disaster capture and culture fisheries practices were leading to an ecological disaster and to the economic stagnation if not collapse of the industry (Pauly 2005, Stobutzki and Hall 2005). Pauly (2005) suggested that fishermen and aquaculturists should look for jobs unrelated to fisheries. Stobutzki and Hall (2005) have suggested rebuilding the fisheries with minor structural reform. Here we suggest restructuring the destroyed marine fisheries along an ecologically-balanced multitrophic aquaculture approach (Troell et al. 2005, Chopin 2006). Multi-trophic aquaculture is a practical and plausible approach for an ecologically, financially and socio-economically sustainable seafood industry, essential for the economic recovery in seafood producing countries such as Indonesia. Like several of its neighbors, this country's capture and even more its culture fisheries sectors have been rapidly increasing in importance as sources of hard currency and of employment for the socio-economically disadvantaged (Earth Trends 2003, Figure 1).