Simon Bush leads FAO discussion on Aquaculture Co-Management.

Prof. Simon Bush moderated the "Shared Waters, Shared Futures: Shaping Aquaculture through Co-Management" event in conjunction with the Thirteenth Session of the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture of the Food and Agriculture Organisation. This event built on the recent publication of the FAO Guidebook for Developing Aquaculture Co-Management Systems authored by Prof. Bush.

The session introduced aquaculture co-management as an innovative approach for supporting environmentally sustainable, socially inclusive, and economically viable aquaculture systems. By fostering collaboration among governments, local communities, and industry stakeholders, co-management can facilitate equitable access to resources, transparent decision-making, and shared responsibility in promoting the sustainability of the aquaculture industry.

Prof. Simon Bush presented aquaculture co-management as a shift from conventional governance approaches that often prioritize technical, farm-level interventions. He emphasized that persistent challenges – including disease management, water quality degradation, and spatial conflicts - require coordinated, collective action. Aquaculture co-management supports this by bringing together public authorities, producers, and other relevant actors in joint decision-making processes, promoting accountability, and enabling more adaptive and resilient aquaculture development.

The session also featured a panel discussion with representatives from Chile, Tanzania, China and Vietnam highlighting the practical application of ACM in support of the FAO Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture.The results of the session fed into the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture’s deliberations for future planning FAO’s support to aquaculture governance into the future.

For more information see https://www.fao.org/in-action/kofap/projects/acm/en/