Reputational crisis of aquaculture in Spain: SWOT study, improvement measures and strategic actions

Abstract

Worldwide aquaculture has always had reputational problems due, among others, to environmental aspects; many of these issues have been largely resolved, and those that still need to be are actively being worked on. In any case, aquaculture is essential for the food security of the world population since fishing has spent years maintaining a stable maximum production that currently represents less than production by aquaculture. Likewise, aquaculture has a favorable economic impact, especially in local communities and geographically depressed areas. Nevertheless, new reputational aspects are becoming very important in recent times and related to new species, especially the octopus which, after many years of research, has achieved a close managed cultivation cycle. However, its implementation faces challenges and strong opposition from groups considering that the species should not be cultivated because they are sentient animals. This fact prompted us to carry out a study that allows us to determine the strategic actions necessary to improve the image and perception of aquaculture carried out in Spain, both in society and in future generations. For this, a survey was performed on four target groups (“company,” “research,” “administration,” and “social”) to determine the consensus of the previously identified factors (Weaknesses, Threats, Strengths, Opportunities). Once the factors had been validated by 24 experts from the four groups, the surveys were distributed in a total of 8 Spanish geographical areas, analyzing the results using the Delphi method and developing, in parallel, 13 improvement measures and 10 strategic actions (adaptive, defensive, offensive, survival), with initiatives related to animal welfare in each of the strategic blocks, which will improve the social reputation of aquaculture.