Aquaculture and Blue Economy: state of the art and perspectives

Aquaculture represents one of the most promising sectors of the Blue Economy. Indeed, the innovative capacity of aquaculture enables it to overcome significant challenges such as food security and the livelihoods of millions of people, issues that many governments are being called upon to address quickly. Environmentally, however, aquaculture practice can cause serious damage to marine environments such as chemical pollution, escape of farmed fish and the spread of diseases and parasites. This study adopts a qualitative methodology, based on a structured literature review conducted through the Scopus database. The aim is to identify the main research trends in an evolving field. The results present various thematic areas: from the analysis of policies related to aquaculture to the management of fish stocks and the assessment of environmental impacts. The contribution offers multiple implications useful both to the scientific community and to policymakers and governmental organisations to support evidence-based decisions to improve fisheries management. Finally, the emerging theme lends originality value to this study.