The role of biotechnology in aquaculture and fisheries development

Biotechnology per se is not a panacea for the world's problems of hunger and poverty. However, genetic engineering in particular, offers outstanding potentials to increase the efficiency of animal improvement. Thus, biotechnology could enhance global food production and availability in a sustainable way. Case studies from Egypt and India also demonstrate that highly immune genetically modified fishes, transgenic fishes, chromosome engineering and gene banking are very appropriate for fish farmers and consumers in developing countries. As the entire technology can be packaged into the germ cells of fish, it can easily be integrated into traditional small-holder fish farming systems. Except for a few innovative transfer projects, though, the application of biotechnology until now remains concentrated in the industrialized world. Combined with insufficient own scientific and regulatory capacities, the increasing privatization of international aquacultural and fisheries research and the strengthening of intellectual property rights complicate the access of developing countries to biotechnology. Profound constitutional adjustments are therefore essential to ensure that biotechnology does not bypass the poor