105
6 Food Security in the Context of Fisheries and Aquaculture…
That would be somewhat analogous to the process of domestication. Animals
that are amenable to domestication (i.e., governable) strike a great bargain with their
governors, receiving food security, shelter, health care, and mating rights, in
exchange for providing a wide range of goods and services: meat, milk, eggs, hunting, winning races and fi ghts, companionship etc. If humans behaved more as
domesticates of nature, their governor, and less as its wild exploiters, their food
security and many other bene fi ts would be maximized. The necessary change from
irresponsibility to responsibility in food production is just that: a change from wild
behaviour to governed behaviour.
Can humans become suf fi ciently governable to achieve that relationship with
nature, or will human nature always preclude it? Time will tell. Irresponsible behaviour in food fi sh production, from aquaculture and capture fi sheries, is still currently
threatening food fi sh security. Economic growth itself can be at odds with food
security. For example, the announcement of a forum on the con fl icts between economic growth and the recovery of wild salmon populations contained the following
quote from its author’s son: “Dad, get a life. Most people out here in the real world
just don’t care that much about restoring wild salmon. They have other things to
worry about!” (Lackey 2005 , 21; see also Czech et al. 2006 for a summary of that
forum). But food insecurity is a very powerful motivator for change. If planet Earth
is indeed to support a population of over nine billion people, before reductions to
levels more appropriate to its available resources, then human governability will
have to improve throughout all food chains, including fi sh chains.
Further work is needed to explore whether governability estimates can indeed
help to identify the links in human food chains in general, and links in fi sh chains in
particular, at which improvements are most needed and possible. This will require
robust, objective, quantitative methods. Existing methods that could be explored
include the Delphi Method, which has been used for a wide range of purposes,
including fi sh conservation (Barrett 2009 ) , and Environmental Damage Schedules
from community judgments (Chuenpagdee et al. 2001 ) .
References
ADB. (2005). An evaluation of small-scale freshwater rural aquaculture development for poverty
reduction. Manila: Asian Development Bank.
ADB. (2008). Soaring food prices – Response to the crisis evaluation. Manila: Asian Development
Bank.
Ahmed, M., & Lorica, M.H. (2002). Improving developing country food security through aquaculture development – Lessons from Asia. Food Policy, 27, 125–141.
Alamgir, A., & Arora, P. (1991). Providing food security for all. London: Intermediate Technology
Publications.
Anon. (2009). Buying farmland abroad: Outsourcing’s third wave. The Economist, 391(8632), 55–57.
Barrett, P.J. (2009). Estimating Devil’s Hole pup fi sh lifestage ratios using the Delphi Method.
Fisheries, 34(2), 73–79.
Blaxter, J.H.S. (1990). The herring. Biologist, 37(1), 27–31.
Bromley, D.W. (2009). Abdicating responsibility: The deceits of fi sheries policy. Fisheries, 34(6),
280–290.
6 Food Security in the Context of Fisheries and Aquaculture…
That would be somewhat analogous to the process of domestication. Animals
that are amenable to domestication (i.e., governable) strike a great bargain with their
governors, receiving food security, shelter, health care, and mating rights, in
exchange for providing a wide range of goods and services: meat, milk, eggs, hunting, winning races and fi ghts, companionship etc. If humans behaved more as
domesticates of nature, their governor, and less as its wild exploiters, their food
security and many other bene fi ts would be maximized. The necessary change from
irresponsibility to responsibility in food production is just that: a change from wild
behaviour to governed behaviour.
Can humans become suf fi ciently governable to achieve that relationship with
nature, or will human nature always preclude it? Time will tell. Irresponsible behaviour in food fi sh production, from aquaculture and capture fi sheries, is still currently
threatening food fi sh security. Economic growth itself can be at odds with food
security. For example, the announcement of a forum on the con fl icts between economic growth and the recovery of wild salmon populations contained the following
quote from its author’s son: “Dad, get a life. Most people out here in the real world
just don’t care that much about restoring wild salmon. They have other things to
worry about!” (Lackey 2005 , 21; see also Czech et al. 2006 for a summary of that
forum). But food insecurity is a very powerful motivator for change. If planet Earth
is indeed to support a population of over nine billion people, before reductions to
levels more appropriate to its available resources, then human governability will
have to improve throughout all food chains, including fi sh chains.
Further work is needed to explore whether governability estimates can indeed
help to identify the links in human food chains in general, and links in fi sh chains in
particular, at which improvements are most needed and possible. This will require
robust, objective, quantitative methods. Existing methods that could be explored
include the Delphi Method, which has been used for a wide range of purposes,
including fi sh conservation (Barrett 2009 ) , and Environmental Damage Schedules
from community judgments (Chuenpagdee et al. 2001 ) .
References
ADB. (2005). An evaluation of small-scale freshwater rural aquaculture development for poverty
reduction. Manila: Asian Development Bank.
ADB. (2008). Soaring food prices – Response to the crisis evaluation. Manila: Asian Development
Bank.
Ahmed, M., & Lorica, M.H. (2002). Improving developing country food security through aquaculture development – Lessons from Asia. Food Policy, 27, 125–141.
Alamgir, A., & Arora, P. (1991). Providing food security for all. London: Intermediate Technology
Publications.
Anon. (2009). Buying farmland abroad: Outsourcing’s third wave. The Economist, 391(8632), 55–57.
Barrett, P.J. (2009). Estimating Devil’s Hole pup fi sh lifestage ratios using the Delphi Method.
Fisheries, 34(2), 73–79.
Blaxter, J.H.S. (1990). The herring. Biologist, 37(1), 27–31.
Bromley, D.W. (2009). Abdicating responsibility: The deceits of fi sheries policy. Fisheries, 34(6),
280–290.