Page 44 - Livre_MOW2024_EN

42 | ACCELERATING BLUE FINANCE AND ECONOMY

AQUACULTURE
Could blue finance bring

food to our tables?

The round-table discussion hosted by NGO Aquaculture Stewardship Council
(ASC) examined the transformative role of sustainable investment and blue
finance for more ocean-friendly aquaculture.

With the Blue Transformation Roadmap of the United How can we develop blue finance in the sector
Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) when climate change-driven threats such as rising
predicting a 35% increase in aquaculture production water temperatures are increasing? The round-table
by 2030 , the environmental impacts of this thriving discussion held at the Oceanographic Museum of
3
industry could also intensify, worsening the triple Monaco on 20 March 2024, moderated by Bertrand
planetary crisis we are facing. Could responsible Charron, Global Director of Research & Insights at the
aquaculture and blue foods have a key role to play in Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), welcomed
guaranteeing food security by 2050? The sector needs panellists to share their views on these questions.
to be monitored and assessed to enable financiers
to make efficient, sustainable blue investments. The
findings of a recent study by the Certification and
Ratings Collaboration (CRC) show that the data on
the sustainability status of both farmed and ocean-
harvested seafood are seriously lacking. Almost 45%
of wild fisheries and 30% of the world’s aquaculture
producers are being assessed either insufficiently or
not at all.

Without the necessary data or transparency, how
can we have trust, instil a sense of responsibility and
transform these industries in order to minimise or
mitigate the impacts?

3. Report adopted at the close of the FAO Regional Conference for The Aquaculture Stewardship
Asia and the Pacific, held in Colombo (Sri Lanka) in February 2024. PROFILE
Council (ASC) is an NGO that runs
the world’s leading certification
programme for sustainably and
responsibly farmed seafood.