Exploring Troubles, Attitudes, and Strategies Related to Integrated Aquaculture. A Case of the Andalusia Region (South of Spain)

Abstract

With the adoption of the Maritime Spatial Planning, European countries have recognized the need to move towards multi-sectoral management of marine resources and space. The present study discusses the problems and opportunities associated with an integrated aquaculture development along the coast of Andalusia through an in-depth analysis of legislative documents and face-to-face interviews. The findings suggest that the management of the aquaculture sector has been characterized by a sectoral approach with little integration into the existing economic activities and socio-cultural context leading to conflicts among fisheries and lack of acceptance from local communities. During the last decade, the regional competent authority and the aquaculture sector implemented several strategies to improve the integration with the other coastal users and enhance the social acceptability of this activity in the area.

Is existing legislation supporting socially acceptable aquaculture in the European Union? A transversal analysis of France, Italy and Spain

“…2014; Cavallo et al . 2020), acknowledging the value of information provided by all parties and respecting other party's values (Vanclay 2012). France, Italy and Spain have worked to ensuring the social and economic well‐being of the coastal communities where aquaculture is developed with the FLAGs playing a key role.…”

“…Social acceptability of aquaculture is well studied in North America (usually referred as social licence to operate) (Mather & Fanning, 2019;Milewski & Smith, 2019) and North Europe while it is poorly understood in other areas of Europe. However, this issue has recently received growing attention by policymakers and by the scientific community in southern Europe (see Bacher et al 2014;Cavallo et al 2020;Corner et al 2020;Porporato et al 2020;Ruiz-Chico et al 2020). For instance, the FAO proposes guidelines to assist governance and decision-making processes with practical methods and actions (FAO 2019): (1) Stakeholders' involvement in aquaculture and participatory approaches in planning are very relevant on policy decision making effectiveness and enhancement of social acceptability; (2) there is a need to bring consumers closer to the origin of the product and the farms and to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the sector in order to avoid misinformation and conflicts; (3) site selection and AZAs imply also considering social and economic aspects as well as the involvement of the local community.…”

“…Costa-Pierce (2010) contribution on the ecological aquaculture, suggests that together with the environmental sustainability and the economic benefits, the sector has to provide 'social profit by developing social capital and social networks that promote business, education and community stewardship practices'. Authors exploring social acceptability of other economic sectors point out the importance of building trust (Ogier & Brooks 2016), developing relationship with local communities (Boughen et al 2014;Cavallo et al 2020), acknowledging the value of information provided by all parties and respecting other party's values (Vanclay 2012). France, Italy and Spain have worked to ensuring the social and economic well-being of the coastal communities where aquaculture is developed with the FLAGs playing a key role.…”

Mapping Global Research on Ocean Literacy: Implications for Science, Policy, and the Blue Economy

“…OL research with focus on the blue economy seems to be scarce and sector-specific, and will increasingly need to follow an interdisciplinary approach across the marine, maritime, education, social and economic sciences (Bavinck and Verrips, 2020;ten Brink et al, 2020). Managing the blue economy requires managing people, which calls for efforts to better understand their knowledge, attitudes, behavior and needs (Ashley et al, 2019;Cavallo et al, 2020). Such efforts require strategies across multiple sectors, from high-level policy-makers to individual-level behavioral changes (Cisneros-Montemayor et al, 2021).…”

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“…Finally, the case study reported and discussed, by providing anecdotal evidence on business opportunities and potential synergies among the Marine living resources sector, the Bioeconomy and the Marine renewable energy sector, suggests to managers and practitioners involve in BE sectors viable innovative managerial solutions for setting new collaborative initiative which ground on inter-sectorial collaboration and aim at developing green strategies jointly pursued by both private and public actors operating in different BE businesses. [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]…”