Sustainable growth in aquaculture depends on a number of factors, including the selection of species that can provide social and environmental benefits, the use of equipment and management practices that align with or enhance local ecological processes, and development at an intensity and scale that is appropriate for the local ecosystem. But even before that, it’s essential that new projects are sited in suitable locations.
Smart siting—using advanced remote sensing, satellite imagery, and data-driven modelling and forecasting—can help prevent aquaculture from negatively affecting aquatic species or habitats while also ensuring farms can be economically viable.
TNC's Aquaculture Siting Task Force
The Nature Conservancy’s aquaculture siting strategy is to get ahead of the game, working in geographies where the growth of the aquaculture industry could pose environmental threats and where science-based spatial planning could be most successful in the long-term. The efficacy of these efforts hinges on the relationships built on the ground, which foster ongoing support for and investments in sustainable aquaculture development. Additionally, we are continually exploring new methods to fill data gaps and generate more detailed models.
We first piloted this approach in Palau and are now working to bring the model to scale. In 2022, TNC launched new projects in Mexico and the African Great Lakes; across the Baja Peninsula and in Lake Tanganyika, TNC is collaborating with government and industry partners to embed the results of siting analyses and spatial planning tools into decision-making and the sustainable development of new aquaculture activities. This work is now expanding into Angola and French Polynesia, with additional opportunities being explored in Latin America.
In every project, we take a collaborative and science-driven approach:
· Partner with government managers, industry, and other stakeholders
· Develop comprehensive data and mapping tools
· Build long-term capacity within countries to sustain management of smart siting
Siting Fact Sheets
- Angola - English (.pdf)
- Angola - Portugese (.pdf)
- French Polynesia - English (.pdf)
- French Polynesia - French (.pdf)
- Lake Tanganyika - English (.pdf)
- Lake Tanganyika - Swahili (.pdf)
- Mexico - English (.pdf)
- Mexico - Spanish (.pdf)
- Peru - English (.pdf)
- Peru - Spanish (.pdf)