FAO ROUNDTABLE MEETING ON PROGRAMME FOR THE 2010 ROUND OF CENSUSES OF AGRICULTURE Apia, Samoa 9 – 13 March 2009 Agriculture census as an instrument for collecting Aquaculture Statistics

Definition of Aquaculture Aquaculture can be regarded as the science, art, and business of cultivating marine or freshwater food fish or shellfish such as oysters, clams, salmon and trout under controlled conditions. It can also be known as Aqua-farming.

Introduction Aquaculture has become increasingly important in many countries especially the Asian countries. Therefore, there is a great demand for data on the structure of the aquaculture production industry. Some countries collect aquaculture data as part of a general fisheries census covering both fisheries and aquaculture. However, there is a strong interest in many countries to link agriculture with aquaculture by conducting agriculture and aquaculture census together.

Close link or relationship between aquaculture and agriculture Aquaculture involves cultivating of fish, shellfish or prawns under controlled conditions which is more or less the same as raising of livestock or cultivation of crops under agricultural production. Aquaculture is often integrated with agricultural production e.g. the breeding of fish or prawns in the same area where paddy-rice are grown. Aquaculture and agriculture commonly share the same inputs such as machinery and labour. Statistically, the two censuses are separate but operationally, they can be combined into a single field enumeration system.

Advantages in carrying out a joint agriculture and aquaculture censuses: The cost of data collection for the two censuses is reduced. It can help to provide a link between agriculture and aquaculture data, enabling a wider analysis of data in both censuses. It makes it easy to apply standard concepts and definitions in the two censuses. There would be organisational benefits in having one enumeration team responsible for data collection in both censuses.

Aquaculture practice in Vanuatu Past censuses and/or surveys on agriculture did not capture data on aquaculture. However, data on fisheries (both salt and fresh water) were collected at the household level. Recently we have a few of these activities but they are more on commercial basis and information obtained from these establishments are through administrative records. We are seeing very recently new initiatives in this area; therefore it is our hope that the next census of agriculture will consider including aquaculture data collection in the commercial farm questionnaire.

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