Benchmarking species diversification in global aquaculture

This paper develops a benchmarking system to examine species diversification patterns in around 200 countries over three decades, in order to generate information in support of evidencebased policy and planning in aquaculture development. It can be used in foresight analyses of future production targets.

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While diversified aquaculture could reduce both biological and financial risks, the private sector may lack incentives to diversify the species composition of aquaculture production because developing or adopting new species tends to be costly and risky. Conversely, concentrating on the most efficient species can benefit from economies of scale in both production and marketing. With ever-growing concerns over climate change, disease outbreaks, market fluctuations and other uncertainties, species diversification has become an increasingly prominent strategy for sustainable aquaculture development. Policy and planning on species diversification require a holistic, sector-wide perspective to assess the overall prospect of individually promising species that may not be entirely successful when competing for limited resources and markets. The historical experiences of species diversification in global aquaculture can provide guidance for the assessment.