Regenerative Aquaculture: A New Conceptual Framework
By Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
TL;DR: A new framework aims to transform aquaculture from extractive to regenerative, focusing on ecological restoration and community well-being.
- Holistic systems enhance biodiversity and food security.
- Diversity, connectivity, and adaptation are key principles.
- Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture offers practical solutions.
- Policy, finance, and knowledge are crucial enablers.
- Mindset shifts and indigenous wisdom support holistic governance.
Why it matters: This framework provides a roadmap for developing aquaculture practices that actively restore aquatic ecosystems while meeting human needs, offering a sustainable path forward for food production.
Do this next: Explore integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) for your specific aquatic environment to recycle nutrients and provide ecosystem services.
Recommended for: Practitioners, policymakers, and researchers seeking to implement and advance aquaculture that contributes to planetary health.
This academic paper presents a comprehensive conceptual framework for regenerative aquaculture, shifting from conventional extractive models to holistic systems that restore ecosystems while supporting human communities. Core elements emphasize outcomes for people and nature, including enhanced biodiversity, water quality, and food security, underpinned by transformative mindsets like systems thinking and stewardship. Principles such as diversity (species and genetic), connectivity (integrating aquaculture with agriculture and wild fisheries), and context-specific adaptation guide practices like integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), where fish, seaweed, and shellfish co-exist to recycle nutrients and provide ecosystem services. Examples include shellfish restoration enhancing filtration capacities in coastal areas, seaweed farms sequestering carbon and buffering acidification, and polycultures mimicking natural reefs for resilience. The framework outlines enablers: policy incentives for regenerative metrics beyond yield, financial mechanisms like blue bonds, and capacity-building through farmer networks and research. Barriers addressed encompass economic viability via premium markets for regenerative products, scalability challenges through modular designs, and knowledge gaps filled by adaptive management cycles. Case insights from global initiatives, such as Atlantic salmon-seaweed IMTA in Norway reducing waste by 30%, illustrate feasibility. Mindset shifts promote 'right relationship' with nature, drawing from indigenous knowledge for holistic governance. Metrics proposed include regenerative indicators like soil-like sediment health in ponds and social metrics like community well-being indices. Published in 2026 by Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, this framework equips practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to design aquaculture fostering planetary health, with applications to campus-based aquaponics labs advancing education in sustainable protein production amid climate pressures.