EU aquaculture policy – Stagnating production and unclear results despite increased EU funding

Summary:

Aquaculture is an important element of the EU blue economy and, if carried out sustainably, it can represent a source of protein with a lower carbon footprint. We found that the EU’s strategic framework for aquaculture has improved in recent years. However, some key national strategies for the environment do not take aquaculture into account properly, and member states’ spatial planning and licensing procedures still hamper aquaculture growth. The large increase in EU funding available for aquaculture over the 2014-2020 period was followed by relatively low absorption and undemanding project selection criteria. EU aquaculture has seen little growth over the period, and there are no reliable indicators to track the sector’s sustainability or the contribution of the increased EU funding.

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