**2. Concept of sustainable development in aquaculture**

Since the publication of the World Conservation Strategy, the concept of 'sustainable development' has received increasing importance in most policy areas. A widely used definition of the concept is 'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs' (WCED, 1987). The Rio declaration of 1992 clarified that governments have a global responsibility for resolving conflicts over the environment in ways that protect the interest of humanity and nature. One good example of international obligations that has included the concept is the Convention of Biodiversity (CBD). With regard to aquaculture, recommendations for employment of sustainability can be found in the Holmenkollen guidelines for sustainable aquaculture (1999), in the Norwegian ministry of fisheries and costal affairs strategy for an environmental sustainable seafood industry (2009), and in the EU communication; A strategy for the sustainable development of European aquaculture (2002).

Critics of the concept of sustainable development have, however, argued that the concept is elusive, and highly varying views persist among both scientists and regulators with regard to what the concept constitutes and implications by implementation. The main contested values and practices of sustainable development are: what values are important within sustainable development and how to set priorities between them, and how to achieve maintenance and preservation of nature and biodiversity versus a just society and economic development (Kamara et al., 2006). For example, the rapid spread of aquaculture has raised concern about land-use change in coastal areas, impacts on wild fish by escapees, environmental pollution, and extensive use of marine resources for fish feed production. A conceptual framework for sustainable aquaculture has been presented from three perspectives: environmental, economic and sociological (Caffey et al., 1998). This implies that introduction of modern biotechnology must be explored both with regard to the adequacy of present approaches and with regard to the problem solving nature of the new technology. Moreover that there needs to be an awareness that application of modern biotechnology in aquaculture also influences socio-economic values as employment, income, and local economic activity as well as ethics, which are all important elements of sustainability as understood by most users. Hence, sustainable development requires a renewed focus on stakeholders and their needs, it demands clearer understanding of stakeholders perspectives and public concerns as well as attention to issues of institutional structure and representation in decision-making processes.

The next section deals with biological/ecological challenges in aquaculture while section four provides a picture of recent technological developments that may have a bearing on these challenges. In section five we present international and domestic regulations relevant to both modern biotechnology and the access issues, thus pertaining to the discussion of sustainability. We then briefly account the present structural developments and management trends within aquaculture. With this broad framework in mind, we turn to examine actor perceptions of how biotechnology and IPR may affect sustainability in aquaculture. This section builds on surveys and interviews with key actors. Then in section eight we highlight some of the major issues for understanding how IPR and biotechnology may affect sustainability in aquaculture. Finally we discuss implications and give some recommendations for how developments in biotechnology and IPR in aquaculture can contribute to sustainability.
