Aquaculture, long a key activity for sustainable food production and the 'blue economy' in Europe, is facing a challenge of public acceptance. Concerns about its environmental impact, competition for coastal space, and a perceived lack of transparency have left many citizens wary, even with the growing demand for local seafood.
This tension is at the heart of a new article published in the ICES Journal of Marine Science, prepared by a group of experts from the ICES Working Group on the Social and Economic Dimensions of Aquaculture (WGSEDA). The paper warns that low social acceptability "appears to be the major obstacle to the sector’s growth". According to the authors, Europe cannot fully unlock aquaculture’s potential without strengthening public engagement and building trust.
The authors emphasise that “progress is needed in terms of political action that acknowledges contextual local and regional settings” to enhance the social acceptability of aquaculture. The paper underlines that public perceptions are not an afterthought but a decisive factor shaping the future of the industry.
The article makes clear that the problem is not a lack of recognition of aquaculture’s importance, as the sector is widely seen as essential to Europe’s food security. However, without stronger policies to ensure transparency and dialogue, negative perceptions will continue to overshadow its contributions. In some regions, local communities feel excluded from decision-making processes; in others, misinformation about environmental performance fuels distrust.
To address these challenges, the paper calls for coordinated action. It recommends that "socio-ecological monitoring" be implemented to help policymakers and producers better understand and respond to concerns. It also urges greater transparency—sharing clear information about production practices and opening structured dialogues with NGOs, citizens, and local authorities.
Equally important, the article argues that social acceptability must be fully integrated into aquaculture governance, treating societal concerns with the same weight as environmental or economic factors in planning and licensing decisions. The authors suggest that only by embedding these considerations into policy frameworks can Europe build the trust required for sustainable expansion.
The paper concludes that “adapting aquaculture policies to local contexts through inclusive and adaptive governance is therefore essential to the sustainable growth of the sector” and to its ability to contribute fully to Europe’s sustainable food systems.
For Europe’s aquaculture professionals, the message is unambiguous. Social acceptance is not simply a matter of public opinion; it is the condition for the sector’s social license to grow. The solutions, according to the paper, lie not in technical fixes alone but in reshaping how the industry engages with society at large.
Referencia:
José Antonio Pérez Agúndez, Ramón Filgueira, Nesar Ahmed, Furqan Asif, Suzannah-Lynn Billing, Lucia Fanning, Amber Himes-Cornell, Teresa R. Johnson, Gesche Krause, Cornelia Kreiss, Eirik Mikkelsen, Selina Marguerite Stead, Sander van den Burg, Yari Vecchio, Sebastian Villasante (2025). Strengthening policy action to tackle social acceptability issues in European aquaculture. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 82(7), fsaf100. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsaf100.
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