Rural development in the context of conflictual resource usage

The paper examines the role of aquaculture in sustainable development of rural communities. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, aquaculture is the fastest growing sector in the food sector, and the only growing component in the fisheries. It offers year-round jobs and incomes. However with its agricultural focus on ‘enclosing’ waterways, aquaculture is frequently opposed by the traditional fishery, and residential property owners. Their opposition may succeed in banning aquaculture. This paper, recognizing that aquaculture may produce conflicting rights and damage to other users, suggests that mutual economic and environmental interactions should be identified. This will permit a more holistic approach to coastal management. Regulations can be imposed to mitigate adverse environmental repercussions, and a cost-benefit study made to clarify socio-economic impacts. Cage culture of salmon in the Bay of Fundy in Atlantic North America is used to illustrate conflictual relationships, but the illustration could have come from Galicia in Spain, or the Tenth Region in Chile.