Aquaculture: A Rapidly Growing Food Production Sector—Challenges, Proposals, and Progress in Strengthening Its Sustainability

Dear Colleagues,

Aquaculture represents a sector of “global food portfolio” that, in the last 40 years, has undergone extremely rapid growth, contributing significantly to food supplies and food security. According to OECD-FAO, aquaculture production is expected to reach 61% of aquatic products used for human consumption by 2034.

This rapid growth has been driven by several factors such as changes in consumer behavior, increasing seafood demand for food security and human health and decline in fishery production. However, alongside rapid growth, concerns have arisen over the potential negative social and environmental impacts and the efficient use of resources. The scientific literature reports numerous examples of the negative impacts that aquaculture can have when it is incorrectly managed. Inadequate communication and dissemination of information regarding these negative aspects have generated misconceptions, misinformation and disinformation among the public, obscuring and concealing the value and benefits aquaculture can provide, not only for food production but also for the conservation of aquatic resources, the protection of ecosystems and ecosystem services.

According to the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, modern aquaculture, in fact, constantly strengthens its image through high levels of economic, social and environmental sustainability. The scientific community must play a decisive role in improving and disseminating high levels of sustainability by promoting an “ecosystem-based aquaculture management”, integrating all ecosystem components (species, habitats, functions) and human activities, viewing sustainable aquaculture as part of the whole system, not in isolation, constantly seeking a balance between resilience, competitiveness and sustainability of this fast-growing food production.

To enhance planning and supportive policy and regulatory frameworks essential for this crucial challenge of sustainable aquaculture development, this Special Issue will publish research articles, review articles as well as short communications addressing aspects related to the environmental sustainability of aquaculture production, e.g., emissions of nutrients and chemicals into aquatic environment, interactions with local biodiversity, energy use and reliance on wild fish populations for feed production. 

To enhance planning and supportive policy and regulatory frameworks, published articles will concern not only the description of impacts, effects and interactions of aquaculture practices on the aquatic environment but also papers that address the following: 

- Interventions to mitigate the impact through the application of proactive measures, BMPs and emerging technologies;

- Lower impact aquaculture (RAS, IMTA and extractive aquaculture);

- Practical experiences of selecting, implementing and managing areas designated for aquaculture;

- Processes and pathways for certification programs enforcing more rigorous environmental standards;

- Farming activity providing ecosystem services, e.g.,  absorption of excess nutrients and organic matter from the environment, conservation and restoration of ecosystems and conservation and enhancement of biodiversity.

Dr. Andrea Santulli
Prof. Dr. Concetta Messina
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• aquaculture sustainability
• environmental impacts
• aquaculture BMPs
• low-impact aquaculture
• aquaculture ecosystem services
• designated aquaculture areas
• certification programs
• sustainable aquafeed
• environmental footprint
• regulatory framework