Success Stories In Asian Aquaculture - Library - Network of ...

10 Synthesis and Lessons Learned19110.4 Measures of SuccessThis compendium is thought to be the first attempt at documenting success storiesin aquaculture, and hopefully it will stimulate others to follow suit, particularlyfrom other regions of the world and other aquafarming systems. The exercise hasnot been straight forward nor was it easy, especially when one considers the greatdiversity and rapid changes in species cultured, size, shape, intensity, resourceusage, socio-economic benefits, among others, in aquaculture.One criterion suggested in reviewing this material is that one element of successis resilience over time or perhaps what might be considered as the persistence factor.For instance, most of the chosen cases have been in operation as aquafarmingsystems for a decade or more (and as explained in the rice-fish case in China thathas been in operation for more than 2500 years) and all signs indicate that these willcontinue to be sustainable in the longer term and continue to contribute to the everincreasing human food fish needs, particularly from the viewpoint of meeting theanimal protein needs. Resilience offers one important measure of success.Also adaptive capacity or the ability of the production systems to evolve in adiversity of contexts and related issues of the “fit” of the production system inrelation to such contexts is another key factor for success. This comparison is bestexemplified by the two extreme cases illustrated by simple cage farming in Nepaland the rather explosive growth of catfish farming in Vietnam. In the formerinstance, a low productive and environmentally minimally perturbing system hasbeen sustained for over two decades while continuing to provide improved livelihoodsfor the farmers than that they were engaged in prior to the impoundment ofthe Kulekhani reservoir. In Vietnam, on the other hand, the explosive growth of anaquafarming system, primarily built around the culture of “tra catfish,” hassucceeded in developing a pond-based production system tapping the traditionalglobal demand for a “white fish” of modest market price. This farming activity,centered in the Mekong Delta, reached a production of 1.2 million tons of foodfish in 2007, which generated a foreign exchange income of US$ 987 million andprovides livelihood opportunities to more than 150,000 rural people, mostlywomen engaged in the associated processing sector. Both of these cases representsuccesses even though they reflect two extremes in absolute terms in the overallintensity of the practices, monetary value of the operations, as well as individualmonetary gains.Development of flexible supportive aquaculture services has been another verydifferent example of success. The case of backyard hatcheries, primarily in Thailand,has enabled the Thai shrimp and mariculture sector more generally to maintain itsglobal leadership for nearly a decade. This resilience is driven by mainly thesmall scale, low capital and operation costs of these hatcheries, which have permitteda switching behavior by farmers that has guided the continued development ofthis sector even through the turmoils of major viral disease outbreaks, market pricefluctuations, and changing competitive market forces. This ability to make shifts to