Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons^™

The major common denominator of shellfish aquaculture in coastal or estuarine waters worldwide is that most culture operations are conducted in common or public trust waters, necessitating constant interaction in the political arena with other competing interests. As a matter of practicality, the best systems for managing aquaculture lease policy in an equitable manner are on a local enough scale to facilitate stakeholder involvement, and to allow aquaculturists to organize into professional trade organizations so that the collective interest of the industry is heard in the process.

The development of a traditional form of Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) in the Dagupan City Estuary system in the Philippines is based upon different producers each focusing on individual species rather than individual producers producing multiple species with very different market values. The long-term success of such a system requires attention to local marine spatial planning and enforcement of caps on forms of feed-based (net pen or fish cage) aquaculture systems.