AquaFarm, now in its fourth edition, is the yearly appointment for operators of the whole aquaculture supply chain. Since its debut, it has been developed in collaboration with API and AMA, the two leading Italian associations in this sector.
The event bears witness to the growing role of aquaculture worldwide. According to the most recent data published by FAO, 53 percent of aquatic species destined for human nutrition worldwide are produced by farming, to which about 30 million tonnes of aquatic plants and macro and microalgae must be added. Overall consumption is estimated at 20.5 kg per person, with an average yearly increase of 3.2 percent from 1961 to today, surpassing both population growth and protein intake derived from terrestrial species. With the total number of fisheries products essentially at the levels of the late 1980s, growth is upheld, and will be even more so in the future, by aquaculture.
An interesting fact emerging from the FAO survey is that half of the production from breeding is related to aquatic species that are defined as "extractive". They are the ones that get their nourishment filtering water from the environment; in this way they also use the waste produced by those species which must instead be nourished by man, thus achieving an integrated production and reducing the environmental impact. FAO and producers are relying heavily on these farms to combine sustainability and increased food production with aquaculture.
The 2020 programme focuses on three themes. Environmental sustainability, intended both as a reduction of the impact of farming on the ecosystem and as a resilience of production in presence of environmental changes, not only climatic but also due to chemical and microplastic pollution. Research and innovation in all sectors of the supply chain with particular attention to cooperative projects at European level. The finished product from aquaculture, also narrated through tastings aimed at the distribution and to individual and collective catering.
