Aquaculture is an industry still dominated by small-scale farmers. Although nearly 70 percent of the global aquaculture production originates from small-scale farming sector, almost no small-scale farmers or farming systems are currently certified. Certification of small-scale aquaculture has been an issue, mainly due to the unbearable cost of certification as well as difficulties in complying to the required certification standards. Many small-scale farmers find themselves difficult to comply with the standards set by the certifiers, mainly due to lack of finance, technical knowledge and organizational capacity. In some cases, it is also evident that necessary state support, including appropriate national policy and legal environment, does not exist in some countries. Therefore, improving the knowledge of small-scale aquafarmers on how to comply with certification standards, as well as to identify national policy and regulatory gaps supporting small-scale aquaculture certification, is becoming necessary.

The FAO Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification, developed after a transparent and exhaustive consultative process, was approved by FAO Committee on Fisheries in 2011. The guidelines provide guidance for the development, organization and implementation of credible aquaculture schemes. A range of issues considered in the guidelines include the following: (1) animal health and welfare; (2) food safety; (3) environmental integrity; and (4) socio-economic aspects. Since its approval and adoption by FAO members, established third-party aquaculture certification schemes claimed that their schemes are in compliance with FAO guidelines. Several national aquaculture certification schemes which came to effect recently also endorsed FAO guidelines as the basis for developing theirs schemes. The FAO member states subsequently requested FAO to develop evaluation framework for assessing conformity of certification schemes with the FAO Guideline. Based on the those efforts, multi-stakeholder initiative "Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI)" has developed the Global Benchmarking Tool to measure the performance of certification schemes in order to facilitate their implementation and the use.

Assistance to small-scale aquaculture and to developing countries is one of the fundamental principles of these technical guidelines on aquaculture certification. Thus special and preferential assistance to the small-scale farming sector and to developing countries is given in the implementation of aquaculture certification.

In this context, small-scale aquaculture is defined as aquaculture farms with small production volume, and/or relatively small-scale surface area, mainly without permanent labour, and typically lacking technical and financial capacity to support individual certification.

A small group of experts on small-scale aquaculture, aquaculture certification and aquatic animal health are currently discussing a format and framework to develop a compliance manual series to advice small-scale aquaculture farmers, how to comply with the FAO technical guidelines on aquaculture certification.

Mr Jose Luis Fernandez, FAO Representative to the Philippines, welcomed the experts and emphasized the importance of certification to access markets. Small-scale farmers continuously face challenges including low production volume, higher production cost, lack of financial support, and limited control of sales of products. So how can we assist small-scale producers to comply with aquaculture certification? Cluster certification may be a way forward for small-scale producers.

The ecosystem approach to aquaculture provides the conceptual guideline for spatial planning and management. This publication describes the major steps related to these activities. The rationale for and objectives of each step, the ways (methodologies) to implement it, and the means (tools) that are available to enable a methodology are described in a stepwise fashion. Recommendations to practitioners and policy-makers are provided. A separate policy brief accompanies this paper. The benefits from spatial planning and management are numerous and include higher productivity and returns for investors, and more effective mitigation of environmental, economic and social risks, the details of which are provided in this paper.

This publication is organized in two parts. Part one is the "Guidance"; it is the main body of the document and describes the processes and steps for spatial planning, including aquaculture zoning, site selection and area management. Part two of the publication includes six annexes that present key topics, including: (i) binding and non-legally binding international instruments, which set the context for sustainable national aquaculture; (ii) biosecurity zoning; (iii) aquaculture certification and zonal management; (iv) an overview of key tools and models that can be used to facilitate and inform the spatial planning process; (v) case studies from ten countries – Brazil, Chile, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Oman, the Philippines, Turkey, Uganda and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; and (vi) a workshop report. The country case studies illustrate key aspects of the implementation of spatial planning and management at the national level, but mostly within local contexts. Take-home messages include the ways in which institutional, legal and policy issues are addressed to implement the process, or parts of the process.

• Policy brief: FAO & World Bank. 2015. Aquaculture zoning, site selection and area management under the ecosystem approach to aquaculture. Policy brief. Rome, FAO.
  
  
• Handbook: Aguilar-Manjarrez, J., Soto, D. & Brummett, R. 2017. Aquaculture zoning, site selection and area management under the ecosystem approach to aquaculture. A handbook. Report ACS18071. Rome, FAO, and World Bank Group, Washington, DC. 62 pp.
  
  
• Full document: Aguilar-Manjarrez, J., Soto, D. & Brummett, R. 2017. Aquaculture zoning, site selection and area management under the ecosystem approach to aquaculture. Full document. Report ACS113536. Rome, FAO, and World Bank Group, Washington, DC. 395 pp.