Perspectives from Professor Dave Little
Embedding Sustainability and Ethics into Aquaculture
The production of prawns, one of the key species that the SEAT project is investigating, in Bangladesh supports a wide range of livelihoods, including many small traders who can be seen here. Dave Little
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"The purpose of our multidisciplinary project is to provide fuller and more focused research into the rapidly expanding aquaculture trade from Asia to Europe and to contribute to improved communications between producers and consumers. "
— Dave Little |
Keeping fish on the European menu is increasingly challenging as supplies of wild caught fish - often unsustainably exploited - are failing to keep pace with demand. Aquaculture has been growing to meet this demand and now accounts for half of globally consumed seafood – a trade worth €150 billion! Indeed, in recent years, the European Union has shown an increasing dependence on imports of aquaculture-derived seafood. My previous work with research and development initiatives supporting Asian fish farming in such areas as preventing contamination of fish farms and the development of husbandry methods had led me to believe that more joined-up approaches to supporting their further development was required. I could clearly see that it was vital to ensure that farmed seafood continued to improve and meet the rising aspirations of consumers both locally and in export markets and that the producers got a fair deal.
I completed my first degree in Marine Biology at the University of Liverpool’s Port Erin Marine Laboratory but my interests soon moved in the direction of the newly emerging aquaculture industry. After serving as a volunteer for the Thai Government in rural extension, my PhD studies took me back to Thailand where I worked on the development of improved hatchery and production strategies for the widely cultured Nile tilapia. From early on I was interested in how aquaculture might benefit the livelihoods of poor people.
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| Interactive ‘State of the System’ (SOS) workshops have been held in Bangladesh China, Vietnam and Thailand allowing participants to interact, share views and offer feedback from ongoing project fieldwork as well as providing useful background to the culture and marketing of key aquaculture species. Doug Waley |
The concept behind the Sustainable Ethical Aquaculture Trade project (SEAT) initiative really developed, therefore, from the recognition that Asian aquaculture would, from now on, be playing an increasingly important role within the seafood markets in Europe and that there was an urgent need for a more balanced approach to the sustainable development of this trade. I recognised that there existed a huge communication gap between Western views of producing countries and the reality of the Asian aquaculture production chain. This project aims, through its various work-packages, to address this misunderstanding and lack of holistic analysis by exploring the environmental, social and economic impacts of the aquaculture production chain. By demonstrating impartiality, spending time working with stakeholders and disseminating project findings publicly and objectively, we hope that the project will initiate or strengthen reciprocal relationships through the value chains.
From our results we plan to create an Ethical Food Index, which will provide stakeholders with valid and verifiable knowledge with which to measure development and expansion of this burgeoning trade whilst still ensuring ethical and sustainable practices. Ultimately, by strengthening the knowledge-base surrounding the EU-Asia seafood trade and communicating that knowledge to all interested parties, I see the project supporting consolidation or further expansion of such mutually beneficial trade based on high ethical standards.
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 Professor Dave Little is a member of the Sustainable Aquaculture Group at Scotland’s University of Stirling Institute of Aquaculture, internationally recognised as one of the leading centres for research and academic training in aquaculture and fisheries science. He has 30 years experience in tropical aquaculture and his main interest lies in the development impact of the Asian aquaculture industry.
Little is the principal investigator in the Sustainable Ethical Aquaculture and Trade project (SEAT), an EU funded initiative that explores the sustainability of trade in aquaculture products originating from Asia.
Learn more about SEAT on SeaWeb's Market Solutions portal. |
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