A review of grouper (Family Serranidae: Subfamily Epinephelinae) aquaculture from a sustainability science perspective

Aquaculture of groupers is carried out in tropical and subtropical areas throughout the world, but most production is from Asia, with three countries responsible for an estimated 92% of global production: China (65% of total production), Taiwan Province of China (17%) and Indonesia (11%). We calculate that there are at least 47 grouper species plus 15 grouper hybrids that have been trialled or are currently aquacultured. While grouper aquaculture has undoubtedly provided positive social and economic benefits to coastal communities in Asia, practices associated with grouper aquaculture have also led to widespread concerns regarding its environmental impacts. This paper reviews environmental, economic and social impacts of grouper aquaculture within a sustainability science framework. An update, building on early technical reviews of grouper aquaculture, was used to identify the main environmental, economic and social impacts. The main environmental impacts identified were as follows: seedstock sources, particularly the use of wild-caught postlarval or juvenile fish as seedstock; the use of 'trash' fish as the major feed source; and water quality and substrate impacts of sea cage aquaculture. Significant economic and social impacts arising from grouper aquaculture include employment and income generation, but the economic impacts of disease outbreaks are significant, reducing fish survival to harvest size to around 50-70%. Current approaches to ameliorate negative impacts include the following: development and implementation of better management practices (BMPs) at national level, and the development of a global ecolabel certification scheme by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. Both these approaches have significant constraints, particularly when applied to small-scale farmers who produce the bulk of farmed grouper. We conclude that there is a need for improved higher level coordination between the major producer countries to address identified sustainability constraints to grouper aquaculture. © 2017 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd