Eco-Innovation and Sustainable Marketing in Aquaculture: A Report

This report examines the role of eco-innovation in implementing sustainable marketing strategies within the aquaculture industry. It begins by defining the problem of maintaining key parameters vital for species survival, such as water quality, and then proceeds with a literature review exploring eco-innovation and sustainable marketing in the aquaculture context. The report identifies the constraints of implementing sustainable marketing, including land and water access, feed availability, and environmental management issues. It then details the primary and secondary stakeholders involved in the aquaculture process. The core of the report focuses on eco-innovation methods adopted to mitigate these constraints, such as integrating rice and fish farming, using wrasse fish to combat salmon lice, implementing recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), and utilizing locally caught fish as feed. The report concludes by emphasizing how these innovations contribute to the sustainability of aquaculture practices.

Running head: MARKETING
The role of Eco-innovation in sustainable marketing implementation in Acq
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Problem Statement:..........................................................................................................................2
Literature Review:...........................................................................................................................2
Eco-innovation and Sustainable Marketing in Aquaculture Context..............................................2
Constraints of the Implementation of Sustainable Marketing in Aquaculture Industry..................4
Relevant Stakeholders Involved in the Process...............................................................................6
Eco-Innovation Methods Adopted by Stakeholders/Companies using for Mitigating Constraints 8
References:....................................................................................................................................10

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Problem Statement:
The problem that arises in implementation of sustainable marketing in aquaculture
industries has been the maintenance of the key parameters vital for the survival of the species.
These include temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, ammonia, hardness, nitrite and the pH.
The goals of every operation need to be the maintenance of the water quality variables within the
ranges that ensures the maximal growth while reducing the water use and minimizing the
effluent.
Literature Review:
Eco-innovation and Sustainable Marketing in Aquaculture Context
According to Lucas, Southgate & Tucker (2019) Aquaculture refers to the culture of the
aquatic organisms that includes fish, mollusks, crustaceans, plants and algae. People have
involved themselves in various kinds of aquaculture for a long time with some of the evidence
dating back to 500 BC in the Chinese province. In present times, the practice of the aquaculture
is present across the globe except the Polar Regions. Although there has not been any significant
change in the basic goals but there have been changes in the methods of achievement.
Aquaculture has two overarching goals which include maximizing the rate of the growth and
minimizing the cost of production (Moffitt & Cajas-Cano, 2014). A rapid rate of growth
minimizes the time of achieving the marketable size and decreasing the risk. The reduced
production cost ensures profitable operation (Mathiesen, 2015). In order to accomplish this, there
exist various strategies which are utilized to certain extent. These strategies include
maximization of the food conversion and reduction of power, water, processing and the storage

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cost. Food however remains critical to the aquaculture since it constitutes close to over 50
percent of the production cost and also since it provides energy inputs required for the
achievement of the maximum growth. In aquaculture feeds ranges from the live to the
formulated diets that often changes as the species mature and develop.
In the context of the aquaculture, eco-innovation refers to development of processes and
products that contributes to the sustainable development there ensuring the commercial
application of the knowledge through indirect or direct ecological improvements (Bossle et al.,
2016). This takes into account range of linked ideas from the environment friendly advances in
technology to the socially accepted innovative paths of sustainability. It is basically the field of
the research that seeks in explaining the rate of the newer ecological technology and idea spread
known as the eco innovation diffusion.
Sustainable marketing represents an aspect within wider field of the sustainable
development of community which is a field defined by Brundtland Commission of World
Commission when development meets the present needs without a compromise on the future
generations in meeting own needs(Lii, Wu & Ding, 2013). In context of the aquaculture context,
sustainable marketing has three fundamental principles. This includes (Vasiljević & Savić 2014):
Social engagement and waste reduction: Waste is available in various forms depending
on business or the enterprise where it is marketed. The example ranges from the elimination of
the waste from the product packaging like prohibition on the use of plastic wrappings for
packaging.

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System of Bartering versus Purchasing: Implementation of the principle of bartering in
the place of purchase and adoption of partnering for gathering likeminded people who are remain
open to information sharing and cross promotion
Aspect of Longevity: This implies overcoming tyranny of urgent through planning of the
longevity into the efforts of marketing efforts that would guard the brand from the long-term
difference of prices that will help in optimizing the future social engagement and returns.
Thus, sustainable marketing results in maintaining better relationships with the customers
through the maintenance of greater efficiency of pricing of the goods and services due to the
reduction of the waste either through the accessible stronger social networks and the cooperative
partnerships with other businesses thereby lending of credibility through the pricing that results
in the reflection of longevity derived from the long-term protection, and enhancement orientation
and (Arciuli et al., 2017).
Constraints of the Implementation of Sustainable Marketing in Aquaculture Industry
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently came to conclusion after a
probable analysis intended in providing an overview of the future of aquaculture on global scale.
The process is complicated and includes assessment of the supply and demand of the fish and its
related products (Meaden & Aguilar-Manjarrez, 2013). Thus, the constraints of implementation
of Sustainable Marketing in Aquaculture Industry are as follows:
1. Intensification and Access to Water Resources and Land: Leaving aside certain
exceptions there is very little land available for the purpose of fish farming in various countries
across the world (Wever, Krause & Buck, 2015). Shortage of land and the unavailability of the
freshwater will remain a major constraint for the implementation of sustainable marketing in the

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Aquaculture Industry. Freshwater has found usage in the brackish water culture of the species
like the shrimps for reaching the optimal levels of salinity.
2. Access to Sufficient Feed Including Fishmeal, Fish Oil and Lower Value Fish: Usage of
the aquafeeds will serve as a key role in the production and development and of aquaculture.
The cost and availability of the feed remain the critical constraints of sustainable marketing in
aquaculture industry. Besides, the shortage and the irregularity of the feed supplies enhance the
risk thereby jeopardizing the operations.
3. Greater Diversification and Capitalizations of the Species and Production System:
In spite of the limitation of the land and the water resources the entrepreneurs of aquaculture
attracted by the higher prices finds newer means of producing enough fish for meeting the
demand (Goulding & Kamel, 2013). Greater production also results in the greater capitalization
with money being invested in the machinery, sophisticated and the expensive technologies.
Diversification has also led to the expansion of the new species. However, spread of the diseases
has been a constraint in the implementation of the sustainable marketing in aquaculture industry.
4. Having Right of Entry to the Capital: The progressive diversification and
intensification of aquaculture to the species and the systems requiring the need of the
sophisticated technologies needs access to the capital that will act as major issue in the
development. Capital would be necessary for investment as well as the aquaculture insurance.
However, higher tech investments will attract greater risk that acts as a constraint in the
implementation of sustainable marketing.
5. Management of the Environment: Intensification does sustain the profitability of the
farming operations but do so at the expense of the complications of the farm’s management.

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Besides, there has been a concern regarding the carrying capacity of the environment that is
strained by the increase in the number of the farms and the intensity of the production system.
This might act as a constraint in the implementation of sustainable marketing.
6. Higher Cost of Energy: The usage of the sophisticated technologies calls for the need
of more energy thereby leading to the exacerbation of the problem of energy cost. In fact the
inability of designing a lower cost higher volume pump for the farming of the saltwater shrimp
has lead to the restriction of their use. Similar type of difficulties is put across by the solar
powered pumps (Fezzardi et al., 2013). This also acts as a constraint in the implementation of the
sustainable marketing in the aquaculture industry.
Relevant Stakeholders Involved in the Process
Primary stakeholders of aquaculture industry are individuals who remain directly
influenced by the proposed policies and interventions (Kraus et al., 2015). Secondary
stakeholders represent those who remain indirectly effected by the proposed polices or
interventions. These stakeholders have technical expertise and are linked to the primary
stakeholders (Hadjimichael, Bruggeman & Lange, 2014). They include various representatives
or intermediary organization, the professional and technical bodies and the various
nongovernmental organizations.
The primary stakeholders involved in the processes of the aquaculture industry include:
 The non local, local, private and corporate Aquaculturist
 Wholesalers, processors and the retailers
 Seed/broodstock/ fry/ fingerling suppliers and manufacturers
 Suppliers and manufacturers of feed

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 Equipment, Chemical and Drug suppliers and manufacturers
 Farmers, Fishers and local residents adjacent or closer to the aquaculture sites of
farms
 Users of water resource
 Government planners in the agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and in the
management of the coastal zone
 Government and private extension agents
 Government and university aquaculture researchers
 Project workers of aquaculture development
 Contributors of the technical or the financial resources like donors, government,
banks and the other sponsors.
The secondary stakeholders who remain indirectly involved in the process of the
aquaculture industry are as follows:
 Groups of Consumer
 Environmental Groups
 Exporters
 Custom and quarantine officers
 Adjoining landowners
 Forestry organizations like the NGO, private and the government
 Various tourism organizations
 The Fishers

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Eco-Innovation Methods Adopted by Stakeholders/Companies using for Mitigating
Constraints
In Aquaculture industry, Stakeholders are making use of Eco innovation for mitigating
constraints. They have in fact adopted few innovations that are responsible for ensuring
sustainability of the aquaculture across the world. These include (Ting et al., 2015):
1. Integration of Rice and Fish Farming: Rice farming has been the key sources of
income in the various parts of Asia. Incidentally there has been a co existence of the rice paddies
and the fish since the fish species have always found their way into the flooded fields of rice for
their habitation and reproduction. The advantages of this innovative method included more
nutrient rich and productive rice crop as the presence of the fish led to the increase in the
availability of the nitrogen and the phosphorus levels in the soil. It also reduces the disease
carrying aquatic algae and weeds in the rice farms since they are the favored food amongst the
fish. The farmers are also able to find an extra income source as they can find markets for the
fish.
2. Introduction of Wrasse Fish in Combating with Salmon Lice: Salman lice is a
disease prevalent and naturally occurs amongst the wild but gets intensified in the aquaculture
due to the higher varieties and concentration of the species. For instance, in certain portions of
Norway sea tout and wild salmon has more lice, sufficient enough for collapsing the wild
fisheries. Wrasse represents the family of the fish that helps in cleaning fish parasites and
ensured lice control in the farmed salmon. If the wrasse family can efficiently control the salmon
lice then it can lead to the reduction of medicines and other inputs by the firms thereby limiting
the environmental impact.

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3. Recirculation of the Aquaculture System: Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS)
represents a kind of aquaculture which gained popularity in last couple of years. Such systems
help in the recirculation of the water used in fish tank after it flows through treatment tank. RAS
helps in reducing discharged waste and need for chemicals and antibiotics used for combating
diseases. It also helps in preventing parasite and fish escapes. The process also helps in
incorporating hydroponics or the water based cultivation of the plants since the plants thrives in
nutrient rich water thereby helping in purification.
4. Usage of the Locally Caught Fish as Feed: Aquaculture that relies on the local fish
supplies for feeding the fish stock could help in reducing the inputs of the industrial operations.
This unusual method of feeding helps in reducing dangers of the industrial agriculture as it
comes from the natural populations thereby reducing risk of introducing the exotic species that
could lead to negative repercussions on the wild fish.

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References:
Lucas, J. S., Southgate, P. C., & Tucker, C. S. (Eds.). (2019). Aquaculture: Farming aquatic
animals and plants. Wiley-Blackwell.
Moffitt, C. M., & Cajas-Cano, L. (2014). Blue growth: the 2014 FAO state of world fisheries and
aquaculture. Fisheries, 39(11), 552-553.
Mathiesen, Á. M. (2015). The state of world fisheries and aquaculture 2012.
Bossle, M. B., de Barcellos, M. D., Vieira, L. M., & Sauvée, L. (2016). The drivers for adoption
of eco-innovation. Journal of Cleaner production, 113, 861-872.
Lii, Y. S., Wu, K. W., & Ding, M. C. (2013). Doing good does good? Sustainable marketing of
CSR and consumer evaluations. Corporate social responsibility and environmental
management, 20(1), 15-28.
Vasiljević, Z., & Savić, B. (2014). The System of Integrated Farming as the Basis for
Sustainable Agriculture. Sustainable agriculture and rural development in terms of the
republic of Serbia strategic goals realization within the Danube region. Rural
development and (un) limited resources, 563.
Arciuli, M., Fiocco, D., Fontana, S., Arena, M. P., Frassanito, M. A., & Gallone, A. (2017).
Administration of a polyphenol-enriched feed to farmed sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax
L.): Kidney melanomacrophages response. Fish & shellfish immunology, 68, 404-410.

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Meaden, G. J., & Aguilar-Manjarrez, J. (2013). Advances in geographic information systems and
remote sensing for fisheries and aquaculture. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical
Paper, (552), I.
Wever, L., Krause, G., & Buck, B. H. (2015). Lessons from stakeholder dialogues on marine
aquaculture in offshore wind farms: Perceived potentials, constraints and research
gaps. Marine Policy, 51, 251-259.
Goulding, I., & Kamel, M. (2013). Institutional, policy and regulatory framework for sustainable
development of the Egyptian aquaculture sector. WorldFish.
Fezzardi, D., Massa, F., Àvila-Zaragoza, P., Rad, F., Yücel-Gier, G., Deniz, H., ... & Salem, S.
B. (2013). Indicators for sustainable aquaculture in Mediterranean and Black Sea
countries: Guide for the use of indicators to monitor sustainable development of
aquaculture. General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. Studies and Reviews,
(93), I.
Krause, G., Brugere, C., Diedrich, A., Ebeling, M. W., Ferse, S. C., Mikkelsen, E., ... & Troell,
M. (2015). A revolution without people? Closing the people–policy gap in aquaculture
development. Aquaculture, 447, 44-55.
Hadjimichael, M., Bruggeman, A., & Lange, M. A. (2014). Tragedy of the few? A political
ecology perspective of the right to the sea: The Cyprus marine aquaculture sector. Marine
Policy, 49, 12-19.