Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability in Aquaculture

The Aquaculture Performance Indicators are designed to assess performance of aquaculture systems. An aquaculture system consists of a group of aquaculture producers in a similar environmental area, production technology, and management structure. Aquaculture systems can be local, national, or multinational but will most often be an industry producing one species in one country.

There are two types of performance indicators: outputs and inputs.The 19 output dimensions are shown here and they are also further aggregated to capture performance in the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, economic, and social performance. Environmental performance is captured in five dimensions reflecting feed use, water use and effluent, and broader impacts on native fish and the ecosystem. Economic performance is measured by whether the aquaculture system is generating market benefits and is determined by factors such as farm-gate and wholesale prices, international trade, and supply chain efficiency. Social performance reflects the extent that aquaculture contributes to livelihoods and other benefits in the community and is determined by farmer and processor wages and access to community services.