Setting high standards

摘要

The aquaculture industry has made considerable progress in responsible practices over the past thirty years says Jose Villalon, Nutreco's corporate sustainability directorMuch of the early part of Jose Villa-Ion's career was spent in the shrimp farming sector, and like many of his peers he 'always endeavoured' to take a responsible approach with regards to his farms' production. Yet he concedes that when he started farming shrimp back in 1981, the sector's primary focus was production, in particular acquiring the knowledge to increase both output and farming efficiencies.'I believe that from a commercial perspective, the sustainability principles that we recognise so readily today were not on the radar until the late eighties, which demonstrates just how far we have come.'He says his own experiences brought a steady, dawning realisation that the aqua-culture industry needed to ensure that it operated on a sustainable level. The nutrient enrichment in the estuaries of Ecuador - 'the country where I cut my teeth in aquaculture' - was one of the most defining moments for him. Unfortunately, aggressive pond fertilisation and water exchange resulted in algal blooms and significant oxygen depletion on many farms.