Integrated Systems: Sustainability
and Organic Certification
Kevin Fitzsimmons, Ph.D.
University of Arizona, Professor
World Aquaculture Society, Past-President
American Tilapia Association, Sec. Tres.
Guayaquil, Ecuador
nicovita 03 December 2008
Overview
 Strong
local production of tilapia and shrimp
 How to further expand exports in weak
economy
 Improving sustainability (environmental and
economic)
 Earn NGO certification(s) (WWF, GAA-ACC,
Whole Foods, NaturLand, etc.)
 Find and develop market niches
Gaining NGO certifications
 NaturLand
 World
Wildlife Fund
 Aquaculture Certification Council
 WWF , ACC, and Whole Foods have
released draft sustainability guidelines (Best
Aquaculture Practices) for public comment
 Each reviewing sustainability of aquaculture
practices and providing a certification and
marketing logo
Basic goals of NGO’s
environment – reduce effluent impacts,
protect wildlife, mitigate damage
 Protect consumers – reduce (eliminate)
hormones, antibiotics, contaminants
 Protect workers – safe environment, fair wages,
follow local labor laws and rules
 Protect society and farm neighbors – follow
local laws and land tenure, reduce environmental
externalities
 Protect
Best Management/Aquaculture Practices
affecting quality control and markets
 Improve
water supply and discharge quality
 Feed supply (no contaminates: melamine,
heavy metals, aflatoxins, or anti-biotics,
hormones, etc.)
 Algae control to avoid off-flavor or toxins
 Control parasites that might scar skin or
impact fillet
 Bird control (environmental issue, loss of
stocks, vector for parasites and disease)
Merging the best of the Green and
Blue Revolutions : Integrating
aquaculture with agriculture
Reuse of aquaculture effluents
improving sustainability
Revolution – huge increase in food
production, but heavy reliance on irrigation,
fuel and fertilizer
 Blue Revolution – almost 50% of seafood is
farm raised, but many environmental
impacts (effluents causing eutrophication,
algae blooms, cage and raft conflicts with
other users in oceans, bays and lakes)
 Green
Green Revolution
Benefits
Costs
Large increases in yield
 Improved varieties


Needs
Increased demand for
trained specialists
 Sophisticated farmers

Large demand for
fertilizer
 Increases in irrigation
(area, amount, frequency)
 Less “organic”
More pollution
 More education & training

Blue Revolution
Benefits
Costs
Demand for feeds with
fishmeal
 Demands for clean water
(volume and surface area)
Needs
 Diseases and parasites
 Increased demand for
 Effluent pollution, algae
trained specialists
 Improved planning / zoning
 Sophisticated farmers
 On-land farms
 Investment in planning
 More education & training
Large increases in
seafood yield
 Domesticated stocks


Historical perspective
 Traditional
farming around the world integrated
livestock and crops
 East and South Asian farmers have long
tradition of integrating agriculture and
aquaculture
 Asian sustainable farming systems support huge
populations
 Fish – vegetable – rice (complex carbohydrate)
diet is recommended by most nutrition experts
Historical perspective
 Modern
agriculture cannot follow Asian
model of small-farm integrated systems
(gardening)
 We need an industrial version merging
aqua- and agri- cultures utilizing high
technology
 Taking the best of the Green and Blue
Revolutions
Green Revolutions weaknesses are Blue
Revolutions needs and vice-versa
Agriculture fertilizer
demand
Increase in irrigation
1.
3.
Chemical fertilizers
pollute groundwater
3.
Fish wastes are slow
release, organic
4.
Industrial crops with
large by-product waste
4.
Fish feeds need
alternatives for fish
meal and oil
1.
2.
2.
Aquaculture effluent
rich in N and P
Fish grow well in
irrigation water
Fish-shrimp-halophytes
Eritrea
Salicornia
Mangroves
Mangroves
Salicornia
Shrimp and fish ponds
Shrimp and Salicornia (halophyte)
Integrated System
 Shrimp
/ fish Halophytes, mangroves & seaweeds
Marine Integrated Aquaculture
 Salmon
 Shrimp
 Fish
 Abalone
kelps, nori, mussels
seaweeds and bivalves
seaweeds, bivalves, tunicates
seaweeds
Shrimp/fish and edible seaweeds
Data report - Daily growth rates of
% growth per day
Gracilaria with shrimp effluent over 4 weeks
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
In effluent
channel
Transferred
to ocean
Chemical
fertilizer
Not fertilzed
Salmon and tuna – seaweeds, inverts
 Salmon
and tuna
cages release
dissolved nutrients
(N, P, K, Fe, CO2,
etc.) and
suspended solids
(feed, feces,
phytoplankton) to
be consumed by
seaweed, bivalves,
and sea urchins
Marine fish – seaweeds and bivalves
Fish cage effluents
(feed and feces)
fertilize seaweed and
feed filter feeding
bivalves
Abalone and seaweeds
 Abalone
require
fresh seaweed in
diet. Many farms
rear seaweeds in
abalone farm
effluent.
Sustainable marine farming
 Follow
Oriental farming model of animal
wastes fertilizing plants.
 Add invertebrates that filter feed and graze
on detritus
 Organize aquaculture system to balance
nutrient flows and market demands
 Provide highest quality products while
protecting the environment
Tilapia example
 Fast
growing aquaculture product
 Minimal environmental or social impacts,
but still want to improve
 NGO’s working with industry to develop
certifications
 New markets, new products, reduce impacts
Costa Rica
World Tilapia Production of
2,600,908 mt in 2007 Ecuador
Vietnam
Honduras
Malaysia
United States
Others
Cuba
Colombia
Indonesia
Brasil
China
Taiwan
Thailand
Mexico
Philippines
Egypt
1,400,000
1,200,000
World Tilapia Production of
2,600,908 mt in 2007
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
Global production of tilapia
Aquaculture
Fishery
3,000,000
2,500,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
Year
2008 (est.)
2006
2004
2002
2000
1998
1996
1994
1992
1990
1988
1986
0
1984
Metric tons
2,000,000
Top Ten Seafoods (U.S.)
per capita (lbs)
2000
2001
2002
2003
2006
2005
2004
Shrimp 3.4
Shrimp 3.7 Shrimp
4.0 Shrimp 4.2
Shrimp 4.1 Shrimp
Shrimp 3.2
Tuna
Tuna
3.4
Tuna
Pollock 1.6
Salmon 2.0
Salmon 2.0 Salmon 2.2 Salmon 2.2
Salmon 2.4 Salmon
2.0
Salmon 1.5
Pollock 1.2
Pollock 1.1 Pollock 1.7
Pollock 1.5
Pollock
1.6
Catfish 1.1
Catfish 1.1
Catfish 1.1 Catfish
Catfish 1.0 Tilapia
1.0
Cod
0.8
Cod
Cod
0.7
Clams
0.5
Clams 0.5
Crabs
0.6 Crabs
Crabs
0.4
Crabs 0.4
Clams
0.5 Tilapia 0.5
Flatfish 0.4
Flatfish 0.4
Tilapia 0.4
Scallops 0.3
Tilapia 0.4
Flatfish 0.3 Scallops 0.3 Scallops 0.3
Tuna
3.5
Tilapia 0.3
2.9
0.6
3.1
Tuna
Cod
Clams
Tuna
3.4
Pollock 1.7
1.1 Catfish 1.1
3.1 Tuna
4.4
2.9
0.6
Tilapia 0.7
Tilapia 0.8 Catfish 0.97
0.6
Cod
0.6
Crabs 0.6
Crabs
0.7
Crabs
0.6
Cod
Cod
0.5
0.5 Clams
0.5
Clams 0.4
Clams
0.4
0.6
Scallops 0.3 Scallops 0.3
2007
Shrimp
4.1
Tuna
2.7
Salmon 2.4
Pollock 1.7
Tilapia 1.14
Catfish 0.90
Crabs
0.68
Cod
0.47
Clams 0.45
Flatfish 0.32
US Sales of tilapia
 Imports
in 2007 were $559,788,809
 US production of 20,000,000 lbs at farm
 2007 US tilapia farmgate sales over
$50,000,000
2007 US Tilapia Sales estimate –
$559,788,809 + $50,000,000 =
$609,788,809
Tilapia (May 25, 2005 Madrid Daily)
 Europe
is following US trend of adopting
tilapia as replacement for traditional fishes
Tilapia (June 2007, Tesco, UK)

$8 US per lb whole fish!!!!
Global Tilapia Market Trends
Prices have been constant, only fresh fillets have increased
significantly, will not see increases beyond inflation
7
6
4
Fresh fillet
Frozen fillet
Whole
Live
3
2
1
2008 (est)
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
0
1992
$/kg
5
The YY male technology to reduce
hormone use
(From: Mair, G., 2002)
(GMT®)
Integration of aquaculture and agriculture
Tilapia pond effluent to cotton irrigation
Integration of aquaculture and agriculture
pH reduced from 8.3 to 8.0
 Added 19.7 kg/ha N to 45 kg/ha used in
standard fertilization schedule.
25
20
15
Well
Pond
10
5
Se
pt
e
m
be
r
us
t
A
ug
Ju
ly
Ju
ne
M
ay
0
A
pr
il
Total N applied with water (kg/ha)
 Water
Integration of aquaculture and agriculture
2.6 kg/ha P to crop.
3
2.5
2
Well
Pond
1.5
1
0.5
be
r
m
Se
pt
e
A
ug
us
t
Ju
ly
Ju
ne
M
ay
0
A
pr
il
Total P applied with water (kg/ha)
 Contributed
Grow tilapia directly in irrigation canals
Olives with well water
Olives with aquaculture
effluent
1.8
1.7
1.6
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
1
Effluent
Fertilizer
Well Water
Feb-04
Jan-04
Dec-03
Nov-03
Oct-03
Sep-03
Aug-03
Jul-03
Jun-03
May-03
Apr-03
Mar-03
Feb-03
Jan-03
Dec-02
Nov-02
Oct-02
Sep-02
Aug-02
Jul-02
Jun-02
May-02
Apr-02
Mar-02
Height (m)
Data report -Olives irrigated with effluent
Olive Tree Height Over Time
Tilapia and citrus in Hainan, China
Use water first for tilapia, then irrigation
 Tilapia
oil palm, rice, sugar cane
Multiple use of irrigation water
tilapia
alfalfa, olives, cotton
Gila Farms, AZ
Tilapia with hydroponics
Aquaponics
 More
efficient use of limited resources
 Skill levels of practitioners increasing
 Markets for locally produced fish, vegetables,
and flowers are improving
Processing and Best Aquaculture
Practices
 Best
Aquaculture practices extend to
harvest and transport
 Inside the processing plant
 Reuse of wastes
ISO 9100 and ISO 22000
 ISO
9100 provides for certification of
Hazard Analysis at Critical Control Points
 Covers product safety, plant and food
hygiene, economic integrity, and product
quality.
 ISO 22000, food safety management
system, applies to all kinds of food
processors linked to CODEX
Alimentarius
HACCP
 Hazard
Analysis at Critical Control Points
 Planning procedure for documenting good
production and processing practices
 Participants operate under approved plan with
audits at random frequency
 Focus is on documentation of proper activities at
important stages rather than stationing a
permanent inspector at farm or processing plant.
 Greater focus on critical processing steps.
 More cost effective
HACCP - Examples:
 Document
feed source and use, farm water
quality, testing for off-flavor
 Document source, arrival time, temperature
and condition of fish as they arrive at
process plant
 Provide footbaths, hand washes and
protective clothing for processing workers,
document usage by having employees sign
daily log
 Measure and record bacterial numbers on
fillets during quality control
HACCP
 First
step is to write the plan
 Second step is plan review by authorities
 Third step is to train all employees in
HACCP plan procedures and
documentation
 Fourth step is to operate plant according to
the approved plan
 Fifth step is to maintain paperwork
documenting all stages until inspection
Quality control - bacterial testing
Samples should be
checked for bacterial
contamination
 Follow HACCP
procedures and EU
guidelines
 NGO’s may add
additional criteria

Processing and value-adding
Processing and "value-adding" should
occur in producing country
Value added products
 Frozen
whole, Gutted, Fillets (fresh and
frozen
 Breaded
fillets, smoked fish, sashimi grade
 Prepared
meals
New product forms
Sashimi grade
tilapia
Smoked tilapia
Hickory Smoked
Tilapia Orange Juice
Tilapia by-products
Leather
goods from skins
Pharmaceuticals from skins
Formed fish products
Fertilizer
Fish meal
Tilapia Leather
Flowers made from Tilapia scales
Recommendations
1. More integrated farms using effluents for
irrigation of plant crops
2. Industry-government-NGO partnerships to
implement BMP/BAP’s
3. Processing plants – develop and follow HACCP
plans and implement and obtain ISO certification
4. Industry develop additional by-products (leather,
fish sticks, etc)
What’s needed next?
 Trained
production/farming staff
 Trained regulators and bankers who
understand aquaculture
 Incorporate best technologies of agriculture
and aquaculture
 Economies of scale
 Governmental consideration for zoning and
leasing
 Eager customers who want to buy aquatic
products
Funding for this research was provided by the
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH
SUPPORT PROGRAM
The AquaFish CRSP is funded in part by United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Cooperative Agreement No. EPP-A-00-06-00012-00 and by US and Host Country partners.
The contents of this presentation do not necessarily represent an official position or policy of the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID). Mention of trade names or commercial products in this presentation does not constitute endorsement or recommendation
for use on the part of USAID or the AquaFish Collaborative Research Support Program. The accuracy, reliability,
and originality of the work presented are the responsibility of the individual authors.