Aquaculture

Abalone is a type of mollusc. Abalone flesh is used for food and is considered a delicacy in certain cultures. Its shell, which has an iridescent interior, often is used for decorative purposes. Due to overfishing and poaching, fisheries are not able to meet the market demand for abalone. Abalone aquaculture helps fill this gap. Approximately 70 percent of the abalone consumed globally is produced on farms.

Farming of abalone began in the late 1950s in Japan and China. China has remained the leader in global abalone production. More than 80 percent of farmed abalone is grown in China. However, most of this is consumed domestically. The remaining production comes from South Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, Australia, Chile and the United States.

Main impacts of abalone aquaculture
Compared to other farmed seafood species, abalone aquaculture has a relatively low impact on the environment and society. Regardless, the industry does face several challenges. The key impacts related to abalone production are:

1. Farm siting/infrastructure: Unappealing aesthetics, noise, odor and/or dust; limited access to or alienation from public land; habitat destruction and rehabilitation
2. Energy use: Electricity used to run large scale flow-through and re-circulating abalone culture systems
3. Feed inputs: Unsustainable kelp or wild seaweed harvest; fish meal and fish oil content in manufactured feed
4. Biosecurity: Transfer of diseases to and from the wild, within the wild and within aquaculture systems; pathogen amplification; exotics (e.g., translocation of pests and pathogens)
5. Ecosystem effects: Benthic impacts, such as sedimentation and erosion; eutrophication; habitat destruction; and wildlife interactions (e.g., marine mammals/endangered species)
6. Waste management: Effluents (e.g., nutrients, sediment and chemicals), biological waste (e.g., shell, dead animals and sludge disposal) and solid wastes (e.g., plastics, operational equipment and building materials)
7. Social responsibility: Abalone aquaculture sometimes employs a large number of workers on farms and in processing plants, potentially placing labor practices and worker rights under public scrutiny

Our solution
These issues were addressed through the Abalone Aquaculture Dialogue, a multi-stakeholder process that began in 2008 and ended in October 2010. The goal of the Dialogue was to develop measurable, performance-based, global standards that will help minimize the key environmental and social impacts associated with abalone aquaculture. The Dialogue included more than 100 abalone farmers, scientists, nongovernmental organizations, researchers and others. WWF coordinated the Dialogue and the Steering Committee managed the process.  

Click here to download the standards and read the press release. 

The standards will be given to a new organization, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, that will be responsible for working with independent, third party entities to certify farms that are in compliance with the standards.

Principles
Abalone Dialogue participants  identified seven principles that provided the framework for developing the criteria, indicators and standards for responsible abalone farming. The criteria aim to provide direction on how to reduce each impact and the indicators address how to measure the extent of each impact. Standards are quantitative performance levels that evaluate whether a principle is achieved. The principles are:

1. Obey the law and comply with all national and local regulations
2. Avoid, remedy, or mitigate negative effects on habitats and biodiversity
3. Maintain the health and genetic diversity of wild populations
4. Manage disease and pests in an environmentally responsible manner
5. Use resources efficiently
6. Be a good neighbor and conscientious coastal citizen
7. Develop and operate farms in a socially responsible manner

Learn more

• Abalone Dialogue process guidance document
• Abalone Dialogue meeting reports and presentations
• Abalone Dialogue Steering Committee
• Abalone Dialogue fact sheet
• Abalone Dialogue work program

Read more about the other aquaculture Dialogues WWF is working on.