PELAKITA.ID – Aquaculture has long been hailed as the “blue revolution” — a promise to feed the world, boost rural incomes, and reduce pressure on wild fisheries. Yet behind the glittering statistics of growth lies a quieter story of failure.
Across continents — from Africa to Southeast Asia, from Latin America to Europe — hundreds of aquaculture projects have stalled, collapsed, or been abandoned.
What went wrong? And more importantly, what can we learn from these experiences to build a truly sustainable and inclusive aquaculture future?
1. Overpromised and Underprepared
Many large-scale aquaculture projects were designed with impressive targets but weak foundations. Governments and investors often set ambitious production goals without fully understanding the local ecology, capacity, or community realities.
In a review of donor-funded projects across Africa, researchers found that “most projects were overambitious and consequently none achieved their stated objectives.” Poor site selection, unsuitable soil or water quality, and unrealistic financial projections were common culprits.
The lesson is clear: aquaculture must grow from the ground up, not from the boardroom down.
2. The Missing Human Factor
Even when infrastructure was built, many projects failed because they overlooked the people meant to run them. Weak extension services, minimal farmer training, and little community participation often turned promising investments into empty ponds.
In Kenya and Malawi, for example, fish ponds were abandoned not because the idea was wrong, but because local farmers lacked technical guidance, good-quality seed, and access to feed or markets. The technology arrived — but the know-how did not.
Sustainable aquaculture requires not just ponds and pumps, but people who understand, own, and adapt the system.
3. Ecological Oversights and Environmental Backlash
Across Asia and Latin America, some shrimp and fish-farming booms turned into busts when environmental factors were ignored. Mangrove destruction, water pollution, and disease outbreaks undermined both ecosystems and livelihoods.
A study in Applied Sciences (MDPI, 2022) found that poor site selection and weak environmental management were among the top causes of aquaculture collapse. In intensive shrimp farms, high nutrient inputs and poor waste management led to system crashes, leaving behind degraded coastal zones.
True sustainability, it turns out, is not only about productivity — it’s about ecological balance.
4. The Market Mirage
Technical success means little without economic viability. Many projects underestimated the complexity of supply chains, access to markets, and price volatility. Some offshore fish farms in Mozambique and other parts of Africa collapsed because, despite good production results, logistics costs and export barriers wiped out profits.
Aquaculture thrives where production, processing, and distribution move hand in hand. Without reliable markets, even the most efficient ponds cannot survive.
5. Governance, Policy, and the Need for Adaptation
A recurring theme in failed projects is weak governance — unclear regulations, unstable policies, or lack of coordination between national and local authorities.
In Norway, a 2025 study (Maritime Studies) documented the collapse of a mobile salmon aquaculture initiative due to regulatory uncertainty and fragmented management. Even in high-tech contexts, governance matters as much as gear.
Moreover, many projects lacked mechanisms for learning. Once a system failed, there was no structured monitoring or adaptive management to prevent repetition. In the words of one researcher, “We built ponds, not institutions.”
6. Building the Future: What Works
From these failures, a few key lessons emerge for countries investing in large-scale aquaculture — including Indonesia’s own ambitions in shrimp and seaweed cultivation:
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Start with context, not concept. Tailor the project to local ecological, cultural, and economic realities.
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Empower local actors. Train, involve, and reward farmers, women, and youth as co-creators, not just beneficiaries.
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Plan for the ecosystem. Ensure environmental integrity through careful site selection, water management, and biodiversity protection.
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Secure the value chain. Build strong market linkages, logistics, and financing models before scaling up.
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Govern adaptively. Establish transparent rules, active monitoring, and flexibility to adjust when things go wrong.
7. Beyond the Failures
Failure, when understood deeply, becomes the foundation of resilience. Each abandoned pond and each diseased shrimp farm has taught the global aquaculture community that growth without governance, technology without training, and ambition without ecology are recipes for collapse.
The next generation of aquaculture — from shrimp estates in Indonesia to tilapia farms in Africa — must learn from these hard-earned lessons. The water may run dry for a while, but knowledge, if nurtured, can flow forever.
References:
1. General Lessons from Aquaculture Failures
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FAO (2020). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020. Rome: FAO.
→ Highlights unsustainable intensification, poor site selection, and weak governance as key causes of failure.
🔗 https://www.fao.org/publications/sofia -
Beveridge, M. C. M., et al. (2019). Aquaculture and resilience: lessons from failure. Aquaculture Research, 50(12), 3674–3686.
→ Discusses how social–ecological resilience theory helps explain why many aquaculture systems collapse under stress.
⚙️ 2. Technical and Environmental Causes
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Naylor, R. L., et al. (2021). A 20-year retrospective review of global aquaculture. Nature, 591(7851), 551–563.
→ Examines 20 years of global aquaculture expansion and identifies unsolved environmental and management challenges. -
Primavera, J. H. (2006). Overcoming the impacts of aquaculture on the coastal zone. Ocean & Coastal Management, 49(9–10), 531–545.
→ Explores mangrove destruction and ecological collapse linked to shrimp farming in Southeast Asia.
3. Economic and Policy Lessons
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Bush, S. R., et al. (2019). Governance reform in aquaculture: Lessons from sustainability certification. Reviews in Aquaculture, 11(2), 543–558.
→ Reviews how certification and policy frameworks often fail to prevent collapse due to weak implementation and market-driven focus. -
Klinger, D., & Naylor, R. (2012). Searching for solutions in aquaculture: Charting a sustainable course. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 37, 247–276.
→ Identifies governance gaps, lack of transparency, and dependency on external technology as structural causes of aquaculture failures.
4. Regional Case Studies
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Pauly, D., & Zeller, D. (2016). Catch reconstructions reveal that global marine fisheries catches are higher than reported and declining. Nature Communications, 7, 10244.
→ Provides insights into data manipulation and overreporting, also relevant for failed aquaculture statistics. -
Ahmed, N., et al. (2010). Sustainability of freshwater prawn farming in Bangladesh: lessons for Southeast Asia. Journal of Aquaculture Economics & Management, 14(3), 185–205.
→ Shows that when environmental and social factors are ignored, aquaculture development becomes short-lived and economically unsustainable.
5. Social & Community Dimensions
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Belton, B., et al. (2018). Rethinking aquaculture development: a critical appraisal of the social performance of aquaculture. Fish and Fisheries, 19(3), 411–427.
→ Highlights how exclusion of smallholders, gender inequality, and top-down development approaches lead to social rejection and failure. -
Jentoft, S., & Eide, A. (Eds.) (2011). Poverty Mosaics: Realities and Prospects in Small-Scale Fisheries. Springer.
→ Provides comparative lessons on why participatory governance is crucial for avoiding failure in aquaculture and fisheries projects.