Report of the Workshop on Increasing Public Understanding and Acceptance of Aquaculture – the Role of Truth, Transparency and Transformation, Vigo, Spain, 10–11 October 2015

Abstract

The FAO workshop “Increasing Public Understanding and Acceptance of Aquaculture – the role of truth, transparency and transformation” was held in Vigo, Spain, in October 2015, and was attended by 49 participants. The workshop covered a number of core topics related to the perceptions of aquaculture, including transparency and ethics, communication, collaboration, responsibilities and new approaches to better management of sector performance and perceptions. Participants included a range of indus try stakeholders, including different farming systems in developed and developing countries, governments, international organizations, civil society organizations (CSOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), retailers, consumer groups, communication experts, social scientists and other academics, certification programs and the media, giving a wide perspective of views on the discussions. With increasing populations and a growing demand for healthy and nutritious seafood, aquaculture product s experience a continuously increasing demand, at the same time as people are becoming more conscious of environmental and social issues related to food production. The fast, and in some cases, unplanned growth of the sector has raised some concern over the environmental impacts of aquaculture, and these concerns are often flagged by CSOs and covered in mass media impacting public acceptance for the products. While there may be some examples of poor management and growth, the sector has come a l ong way in improving production practice and operations and often the public perception of the industry is not matched with the reality of improving performance. In order for the sector to improve consumer understanding and acceptance, it must start to address public perceptions through greater truth, transparency and transformation. By being more truthful, communicating the good and the not so good in a transparent and open forum, the industry can gain credibility and trust. By improving trans parency with other stakeholders, and even with each other, companies can start to share and learn from each other supporting their evolution as more sustainable enterprises. This publication covers the topics discussed during this two-part workshop: firstly the expert panel presentations, and secondly the outcomes from the working groups and final recommendations.