Training of Trainers - Library - Network of Aquaculture Centres in ...

iosphere, in that it is essentially a closed system and continuing sustainable gains in food production cannot betaken for granted.In this opening Chapter an attempt is made to set the scene for the treatise as a whole. Accordingly, theimportance of aquaculture in the current context of population growth, food demand, poverty and malnourishmentprevailing globally, and its role in contributing to human food basket is brought to focus. The growth of theaquaculture sector is traced and the public perceptions associated with aquaculture development in respect of itssustainability are discussed. The importance of public perceptions in current development activities and onaquaculture is considered, and finally an attempt is made to answer the simple question whether aquaculture is asuccess.Contemporary situationThe human population has grown from 1.5 to 6.4 billion from 1900 to now, and is predicted to increase to 9 billionby year 2050, barring major calamities that could occur. Not surprisingly, the fact remains that malnourishment,defined as human beings daily calorie intake is less than 2200 KCal, is probably one of the challenges if not thebiggest challenge facing the globe, with an estimated 840 million being in a state of malnourishment (WEFP,2007). The situation is even more burgeoning as nearly 80 to 85% of these malnourished people live in thedeveloping world, accounting for 16% of the world’s total burden of disabling illness and premature death,measured in disability-adjusted life-years (Murray and Lopez, 1996). Fish, however, is not primarily a source ofcalories. On the other hand, fish accounts approximately 20 percent of the animal protein intake, the contributionbeing even higher in developing countries, particularly those of Asia.Table 1: The relative contribution fromcapture fisheries and aquaculture to theGDP in some selected Asian countries andChile, S. AmericaCountry Capture AquacultureBangladesh # 1.884 2.688PR China # 1.132 2.618Indonesia # 2.350 1.662Lao PDR # 1.432 5.775Malaysia # 1.128 0.366Philippines # 2.184 2.633Thailand # 2.044 2.071Vietnam* 3.702 4.00Chile @ 2.17 2.63# from RAPA, 2004;@- from De Silva &Soto, 2008;* Vietnam Net BridgeOver the last half century or so fish are also becoming anincreasingly important traded commodity, by passing manytraditionally traded commodities (Kurien, 2005). Moreover, in asignificant number of Asian countries the contribution ofaquaculture to the national GDP has superseded that from capturefisheries, indicating the growing importance of aquaculture tothose countries (Table 1).Recently McMichael (2001) recognized three consecutive erasover the past and coming centuries, showing the changingbalance between cereal-grain production and population growth(Figure 1). Furthermore, he summarized the contemporarysituation under seven headings, of which the pertinent points areas follows:(1) The proportion of the world population that is hungry andmalnourished is slowly declining. However, because of thecontinuing growth in population the absolute number of hungryand malnourished people is not obviously declining and one-quarter of them are aged below 5 years,(2) Per capita food production has increased over the past four decades but those gains in yield were achieved viaintensive inputs of energy, fertilizer and water, and at the expense of soil vitality and groundwater stocks,(3) An estimated one-third of the world’s arable land is significantly degraded, a significant proportion of it (20%)occurring during the 1980s and 1990s,(4) Per capita grain production (which accounts for two-thirds of world food energy) has plateaued since the mid-1980s,(5) The annual harvest from wild fisheries peaked at about 100 × 10 6 year -1 in the 1970s, and has subsequentlydeclined by about 20 %,(6) Aquaculture now accounts for approximately one quarter of the world’s total fish and shellfish production and6