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Water Use by Inland Aquaculture in Thailand: Stakeholder Perceptions, Scientific Evidence, and Public Policy

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Abstract

This paper assesses the significance of stakeholder discourses on uses of water by aquaculture for public policy. Our discourse analysis focuses on the experiences with inland aquaculture in Thailand, drawing from interviews with stakeholders, and evidence in public documents such as newspapers and television news reports. A key finding is that fish farms suffer significant losses from polluted run-off entering water bodies where fish are grown. Mass mortality events in river cage culture, in particular, attract media attention and are the core of the aquaculture-as-victim discourse. Fish farms are also adversely impacted by river management and current water allocation policies. Inland shrimp farming has received more negative media and scientific attention than fish farming, and is the focus of the aquaculture-as-villain discourse. A third, aquaculture-as-benign discourse, is used widely to describe fish pond culture, and more rarely to promote aquaculture in low-quality water bodies or as part of integrated nutrient and waste re-use farming systems. The findings strongly imply that aquaculture farmers should be included as a stakeholder in the management of watersheds and rivers, as well as the negotiation and allocation of water resources. They also suggest a need for aquaculture development policies to pay closer attention to water quality and allocation issues.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the Institute of Water Policy, National University of Singapore, and with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada, under Grant 108526 as a contribution to the AQUADAPT-Mekong project. Thanks to Chatta Duangsuwan for helping with data collection and Boripat Lebel for editorial assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit for Social and Environmental Research, Science and Technology Research Institute, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

    Louis Lebel & Phimphakan Lebel

  2. Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Louis Lebel & C. Joon Chuah

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Correspondence to Louis Lebel.

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Lebel, L., Lebel, P. & Chuah, C.J. Water Use by Inland Aquaculture in Thailand: Stakeholder Perceptions, Scientific Evidence, and Public Policy. Environmental Management 63, 554–563 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-019-01143-0

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