4 Developing zonal management

Wider Dialogue and Engagement (Taking Zonal Management Pillar 2 to a National Level and Feeding into Pillar 1)

As fits with SFP’s model of change, the dialogue to date has predominantly been with the local industry, and through their engagement the inclusion of local researchers and government staff as required.
However, SFP has also maintained a good relationship with HAPPMA (Hainan Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Association) and CAPPMA (the Chinese Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Association).
The HTSA provides a complementary focus to these two organisations. HTSA’s efforts lie more with sustainable production in support of the wider marketing aims of HAPPMA or CAPPMA. It is envisaged that stronger ties will develop between all interested parties as the industry moves forward, and that producers, processors, regulators, scientists and others will take part in roundtables to sustainably drive the industry forward. As all actors become more confident, and as markets demand it, more data covering production, health management and environmental quality should become available in the public arena.

As the demonstration approach in Hainan is better understood and documented, it is likely to be replicated in other areas in China and farther afield. There is current interest from the other Chinese tilapia production regions, and some of the leading participants in the HTSA also have business interests in other provinces.

 

Building Trust (Zonal Management Pillar 2)

The farm scale of most producers is only a few ponds within a few hectares. There are larger farms that have the internal management systems in place to enable them to attain international certification, but the majority of farms are reliant upon the supply chain for support. SFP typically uses the processors as an entry point for fisheries improvement projects. Aquaculture improvement projects also work with processors, but they soon realised the opportunity to effectively engage producers through feed, seed and technical input companies, who often have longer-term relationships with farms. The challenge has been that many of SFP’s retail partners have little direct interaction with these support industries so building trust and dialogue between different parts of the sector has been a key goal. Finding a champion who could bring the industry together has been critical. In Hainan that lead has come from a middleman company.
Ensuring regular meetings take place between different parts of the industry at both local and provincial levels has also helped to develop trust. This process is discussed later in the ‘Industry Voice’ section, but these meetings and the establishment of a recognised representative organisation for the industry have helped to develop belief that improvement projects are not short-term solutions, but offer positive structural change for aquaculture industries.

Industry Voice (Zonal Management Pillar 2)

Within an AIP there is a need to raise the voice of different parts of the sector to take part in effective dialogue with each other. Except in the smallest of sectors, it is impossible to expect that all farmers will be able to directly take part in planning and dialogue, but it is important that their voice is represented. In Hainan there are whole production areas where the industry has no shared voice. Some counties do have active farmer associations, and these tend to be where the native population has taken up tilapia farming and a few leading local business people feel that a support network would help strengthen development.
However, in areas with multiple small-scale producers who are typically not native there are no associations.
The AIP has facilitated a few farmer meetings now and attended existing meetings in order to share information on zonal management and the development of a shared goal for the industry at the provincial level.
In the areas where new meetings have taken place, farmers have been inspired to continue informal regular meetings and are especially excited about the idea of building the shared reputation of Hainan tilapia as a quality product. As these groups formalise, their representation at the provincial level will increasingly lend weight to the voice of the tilapia industry, which faces competition for land and water from many other sectors, but especially from tourism as Hainan is China’s holiday island.

Farm-Level Training/Engagement (Zonal Management Pillar 2, Contributing to 3 and 4)

It is not possible to continually engage all farmers on the promise of a shared utopia. Indeed, improving production practices at the individual farm scale is an essential component of zonal management. Training on best practices and information about new technologies to be applied on farms are key components of industry-wide improvement. The key champions in the Hainan Tilapia Sustainability Alliance (HTSA www .hntsa.org) and with donor and supply chain support the tilapia industry is improving:
• water quality management,
• feed efficiency,
• disease control, and
• farm data collection and assessment.
The cumulative impact of these farm-level improvements, alongside the industry-wide actions being developed to review environmental impacts and strengthen health management planning, is helping to reduce risk to the industry as a whole.

Code of Good Practice (Zonal Management Pillar 2, Contributing to 3 and 4)

Members of the HTSA have developed a Code of Good Practice that contains guidance on the application of the five pillars of zonal management across the industry and specific guidelines for farms, hatcheries, feed plants and processors, covering industry inputs, production and post-harvest. The blueprint for the development and proposed management of the Code of Good Practice (CoGP) can be seen in what Scotland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, has done across the finfish industries www .thecodeofgoodpractice.co.uk. All members of the various Scottish aquaculture producer associations (salmon, trout, marine finfish) are required to follow the code, which is independently audited and reported against. Again, although not considered perfect, it is the best in the industry and a suitable model for translation by other sectors.
Members of the HTSA are developing sections of the CoGP relevant to their areas of expertise. Each section will be reviewed by local peers before being finalised.
This review process and the engagement of local universities and research institutes to conduct studies to support the development of zonal management are helping to build an effective scientific advisory system to support current and future dialogue and policy development processes. Hainan University has conducted environmental and disease risk assessments, and the Pearl River Institute is sharing its experience and knowledge from the epidemiology assessment of the carp industry in Guangdong.

Disease and Environmental Management (Pillar 3 and 4)

Defining zones should be relatively straightforward in Hainan because there are clear watersheds where the bulk of production takes place. As HTSA is strengthened and the industry becomes more organised and engaged with local researchers and government officials, there will be increasing use of environmental and health management science as the basis for planning and managing industry development. Carrying capacity assessments and epidemiology studies will inform the effective limits of zones and how farms must engage with each other within those zones in order to minimise risk.

Supply Chain and Donor Support (Overall Approach, Contributing to Pillar 3 and 4)

SFP has facilitated several supply chain and donor visits to see the progress the industry is making in improvements.
These visits have helped drive active support for the improvement process, not just financially, but also the closer linkage between producers and the end market. Opening up these dialogue channels is improving farmer understanding of the final consumers demands and educating buyers as to the challenges farmers really face. For example, when the market demands a different size of fillet there are challenges not so much in the technical production issues, but in changing producers’ confidence that they will still receive a good income if they alter the length of time they raise the fish. The risks and impacts in terms of environment and disease management also need to be taken into account, but effective dialogue and a sense of common purpose helps speed up this process.

Summary for Hainan Tilapia Aquaculture Improvement Project.