Effective governance of modern aquaculture must reconcile ecological and human well-being to ensure that the industry is sustainable over time. An important component of human well-being is the treatment of the workers in the industry. This study contributes to the understanding of governance in aquaculture employment so as to suggest potential improvements where necessary.

Many countries are promoting aquaculture as one of the prime drivers of the rural economy and the employment of women and youth. [Author] However, the industry is criticized for inadequately representing the needs of workers. [Author] Most African countries have shown a willingness to advance industry goals through domestic programme planning and facilitating foreign direct investment. [Author] However, there is a need for coherent strategies for employment governance. [Author] Hence, immediate change is required to modify the governance of aquaculture employment to foster industrial transformation. [Author] The objective of this research is to enhance understanding of the governance of aquaculture employment in ten African countries (Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia) and to determine their level of compliance with existing employment legislation in those countries. [Author] The ultimate goal is to learn from both positive and negative lessons and propose possible corrective measures for substandard practices in order to improve the public perception of aquaculture. [Author] The study seeks to evaluate existing employment governance in the aquaculture industry and to use the acquired knowledge to inform policymakers and industry leaders on the status of governance in employment. [Author]

In addition to providing principles of good aquaculture governance, particularly regarding effectiveness and efficiency, equity and accountability, these technical guidelines include concrete recommendations for the administration of the aquaculture sector, its legal and regulatory framework, licence policies and non-state participation in decision making and implementation

With a growing world population and increasing reliance on farmed fish as a source of food, this document identifies key research areas to improve the aquaculture sector's capacity to adapt to climate change.

This document was prepared within the framework of the FAO’s Strategic Objective 1 (SO1): Help eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. This document served as a background paper to present the status of policy mainstreaming and policy research for the improvement of policy development in aquaculture in support of food security, nutrition and poverty eradication. The document was presented in various African fora and received the validation of the stakeholders for its publication as part of policy research. Specifically, the paper was presented and included the inputs from the Consultative Meeting on Aquaculture Policy Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 3 to 4 December 2018, 37th SADC Fisheries and Aquaculture technical meeting in Windhoek and the Consultative meeting on “improving policy development in aquaculture in support of food security, nutrition and poverty eradication” held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 10 to 14 June 2019. This research report includes recommendations by the stakholders to guide the mainstreaming of fisheries and aquaculture within wider policy frameworks, for the formulation and implementation of technical programmes for enhanced food security and nutrition at country and regional level in Africa.

With aquaculture operations fast expanding around the world, the adequacy of aquaculture-related laws and policies has become a hot topic. This much-needed book provides a three-part guide to the complex regulatory landscape. The expert contributors first review the international legal dimensions, including chapters on law of the sea, trade, and access and benefit sharing. Part Two offers regional perspectives, discussing the EU and regional fisheries management organizations. The final part contains eleven case studies exploring how leading aquaculture producing countries have been putting sustainability principles into practice.

This review provides an overview of the status, trends, challenges and projections for aquaculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and evaluates the major trends during previous five years. While the sector still faces various internal and external challenges, the inherent natural potential of the region and rapidly increasing demand for fish has resulted in increased prioritization of aquaculture in almost all SSA countries and the African Union and subsidiary bodies have given special attention to the sector development. In order to realize its full potential, the SSA region needs to address a combination of overarching factors limiting aquaculture development so far, such as ineffective development approaches, weak governance frameworks, underdeveloped value chains and low availability as well as the high cost of key production inputs. Strengthened value chains for tilapia and catfish, promotion of new species, improved biosecurity, continued development of certification and associated harmonized best practices, improved information systems and innovations to address climate-change related impacts are some of the matters to be addressed. Financial institutions and private sector (national and international) have equally started investing, even though in the global picture such interventions may seem negligible, which makes the continent to call for more and higher levels technical and financial assistance from international partners. Upscale the status of production and productivity via healthy investments would help the sector to generate a variety of benefits including food security, livelihoods, employment, domestic and intra-regional markets, foreign currency income and other socio-economic benefits.