( to see presentation)

Environmental challenges born mainly as a concern for pollution and for human impact, have evolved to the application of scientific and technological knowledge to guaranty sustainability.

Several aspects of the environment concern are specially relevant for aquaculture:
-       Availability of clean waters and sites, implying, if needed, restrictions to other activities and an integrated coastal zone management.
-       A regulatory policy with a sustainable approach for all activities and not exclusively for aquaculture, policy that in this way will allow aquaculture development.
-       Need to apply the existing scientific and technological tools (environmental capacity evaluation, clean technologies and clean management, new feeds, new therapeutic and preventive methods for fish health…)
-       Increase of a self-management and self-enforcing capacity by industry and farmers associations, importance of codes of conduct.
-       Inclusion of the positive impacts of aquaculture on natural environments as well as on social environment.

Some of these points will be developed in this session and subject to debate.

Rosa Flos is professor of the Technical University of Catalonia and director of the Reference Centre for Research and Development of Aquaculture of Catalonia (Spain). Besides her research and teaching activities, a permanent concern for transfer and interrelation between science and private sector brought her to the Presidency of the European Aquaculture Society (2000-2002) and to be the coordinator of AQUAFLOW (European Network for the dissemination of Aquaculture RTD Information) network managed by EAS and FEAP.

Contact details:  Departament d'Enginyeria Agroalimentària i Biotecnologia Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya Compte d' Urgell 187 08036 Barcelona, Spain
Tel. 34 934137498/34 934137529 - Fax 34 934137501 - E-mail rosa.flos@upc.es