Biodiversity use and technical performance of freshwater fish aquaculture in different socioeconomic contexts: China and Italy

• Published in: Agriculture, ecosystems & environment ecosystems & environment, 1997-04, Vol.62 (2), p.169-185
• Main Authors: Gomiero, Tiziano, Giampietro, Mario, Bukkens, Sandra G.F., Paoletti, Maurizio G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ACUICULTURA; Animal aquaculture; Animal productions; AQUACULTURE; BIODIVERSIDAD; BIODIVERSITE; BIODIVERSITY; Biological and medical sciences; CHINA; CHINE; DURABILITE; Environment; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT; Freshwater fisheries; FRESHWATER FISHES; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; IMPACT SUR L'ENVIRONNEMENT; IMPACTO AMBIENTAL; ITALIA; ITALIE; ITALY; LABOUR; PECES DE AGUA DULCE; Pisciculture; POISSON D'EAU DOUCE; PRODUCTIVIDAD; PRODUCTIVITE; PRODUCTIVITY; SOSTENIBILIDAD; SUSTAINABILITY; TRABAJO; TRAVAIL; Vertebrate aquaculture
• ISSN: 0167-8809; 1873-2305
• DOI: 10.1016/S0167-8809(96)01136-X

The availability of natural resources and the socioeconomic context in which aquaculture is performed condition the choice of aquacultural production techniques. In this paper, we examine and compare the pattern of biodiversity use (the ecological side of the production process) and the technical coefficients (the economic side of the process) that characterize freshwater aquaculture in PR China and in Italy in relation to the role that freshwater aquaculture plays in these societies. The comparison between aquaculture in China and Italy covers the following aspects: (1) history and general statistics of aquaculture; (2) cultivated species and trophic structure of managed freshwater ecosystems; (3) technological characteristics of the production process, including inputs/outputs, yields, labor productivity, and fossil energy use; (4) role of freshwater aquaculture in relation to its socioeconomic context. In Italy, where socioeconomic constraints (high opportunity cost of labor and a food system dealing with a surplus of nutrients) overwhelm ecological constraints (through imports and technology), freshwater aquaculture operates with densities of nutrient flows outside the range typical of natural aquatic ecosystems. Freshwater bodies used for production are artificial and generally contain only one carnivorous species that depends for its survival on human management of inputs and waste disposal. In contrast, in China, up to nine different species (mainly herbivores) are kept in the same pond, and efforts are made to maintain as much as possible the natural mechanisms of regulation of matter and energy flows. This results in higher efficiency in terms of use of biological energy (from biological cycles) within the system, lower environmental loading, and less dependence on fossil energy inputs. However, the better biophysical performance of Chinese aquaculture is linked to low labor productivity. This makes it difficult to adopt such an ‘ecologically friendly’ solution in developed countries, such as Italy, where the opportunity cost of labor is high.