Comparative analysis of small-scale aquaculture industry in three Southeast Asian countries

Abstract

In many Southeast Asian countries, coastal fishing villages are increasingly encouraging their inhabitants to start small-scale aquaculture as a way of reducing the labor involved in fishing and diversifying their sources of income. This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of small-scale aquaculture in the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia (hereinafter referred to as the ‘three countries’). Aquaculture plays a leading role as a secondary source of income in the Philippines, and is both a primary and secondary source of income in Thailand and Malaysia. Even if a highly productive method of aquaculture were introduced in the Philippines, however, it would not see much uptake because it would be prone to damage by typhoons. Thailand and Malaysia, however, which are unaffected by typhoons, have rapidly increased their mussel production thanks to the active introduction of highly productive aquaculture methods. Our search of the points that developing areas in the three countries have in common revealed that many people started small-scale aquaculture after the mid-1990s in advanced areas, and that most small-scale aquaculture operators say that shellfish are easy to culture and want to continue in the business.