The ecological footprint concept for sustainable seafood production: a review

The capacity of marine and coastal ecosystems to sustain seafood production and consumption is seldom accounted for. In this article, we review estimates of marine and coastal areas appropriated by aquaculture and fisheries for seafood production, and also by cities and whole regions for seafood consumption. The appropriated ecosystem area-the ecological footprint-ranges from negligible to as much as 50 000 ha/ha activity, largely depending on the methods of farming and fishing. The area for waste assimilation ranges from 2 to 275 ha/ha seafood production. The human population of the Baltic Sea region (85 x 106 people) appropriate for their seafood consumption an area of marine ecosystems that corresponds to two additional Baltic Sea areas. Twenty percent of the global human population (1.1 x 109 people), living in large cities worldwide, appropriate 25% of the globally available area of productive coastal and marine ecosystems. The capacity of marine and coastal ecosystems to produce seafood is not included in the signals that guide economic development. Practices that make use of this capacity without degrading it have to be developed and protected from economic and social driving forces that create incentives for misuse of coastal and marine ecosystems.

Folke, C., N. Kautsky, H.Berg, M. Troell, and Å. Jansson. 1998. The ecological footprint concept for sustainable seafood production: a review. Ecological Application 8(1) Supplement:63-71.