Aquaculture Economics and Management
PhD School at the Faculty of SCIENCE at University of Copenhagen
Recent advancements within the field of aquaculture economics and management offer solutions to overcome the stalemate of aquaculture production in the western world, providing advice on how economic incentives can encourage development (i.e. innovations within genetics, breeding, and immunology) and implementation of new types of technologies/productions systems with lower environmental and climate impact. At the same time, increased focus on animal welfare, organic production, resource efficiency, productivity, and management of farms can provide solutions to improve input use and increase environmental and climate performance worldwide. The course also covers the fast-moving production in developing countries (e.g., countries in Asia), which generates other implications for economic growth, environment, and social consequences.
The course is designed to introduce students to both theoretical and empirical applications of different topics within the global aquaculture sector, focusing mostly on the economics and management, but also offers an introduction to advances within genetics, breeding, and immunology. This will provide a broad base for further work within aquaculture as well as in choosing a subject for the course paper. Thus, the course will equip students with a solid theoretical and empirical foundation to discuss and conduct research on aquaculture growth and limitations.
Learning outcome
After having completed the course, the course participants will know the state-of-the-art economic and empirical methods within aquaculture economics and management.
The central themes of the course are the theoretical foundation of, and the methodologies and techniques applied within three areas 1) Productivity and management as a foundation for aquaculture growth, 2) Environmental and climate externalities and regulation, and 3) International markets, trade and policy. The skills and competences acquired from this course are necessary to obtain an overview of the theoretical foundation and empirical applications in aquaculture and to provide a deeper understanding of the subject area. Upon successful completion of the course, participant should be expected to have the following:
Knowledge:
• Explain the development of the theoretical foundation for and methodologies applied in aquaculture based on production economics and management, environmental externalities and regulation, international markets, trade and trade policy.
• Reflect on the relevance and limitations of theoretical or empirical cases in relation to their own report/paper.
Skills:
• Read and understand aquaculture literature focusing on economics and management topics
• Identify relevant research questions relating to topical issues in aquaculture
• How adjustments can be implemented into specific settings within aquacultur
Competences:
• Assess relevance and limitations of different approaches in different fields of aquaculture.
• Discuss scientific and political disagreements in relation to sustainable growth in aquaculture.
• Discuss further possibilities and constraints for growth in aquaculture in developing and developed countries and draw comparisons
Target group
The target group is PHD students that are looking to develop and add knowledge to their skills within aquaculture.
The course targets a broad group working with aquaculture within different disciplines such as renewable natural resource economics, sustainable food production, fish welfare and diseases, exploitation of oceans and fresh water, regulation and management of natural resources.
Some background knowledge within economics and/or aquaculture is preferable but not mandatory as this course provides a broad introduction to aquaculture.
Teaching and learning methods
The first part of the course consists of reading the relevant literature recommended in the reading list. The literature is selected among seminal international refereed journal articles to describe how the theoretical foundation of aquaculture economics and the applications of economic disciplines in aquaculture have developed within different areas. The areas included are:
1) Productivity and management (production economics, including biological aspects in terms of breeding, feeding and disease prevention) as a foundation for aquaculture growth,
2) Environmental and climate externalities and regulation, and
3) International markets, trade and policy.
The second part is the active participation in the course containing lectures and discussions with international experts.
Finally, a short report/paper should be handed in for evaluation.
The theory will be taught mostly through (interactive) lectures, active learning and dialogue teaching. Self-study is also expected to deepen the theoretical basis. The practical component will be taught mostly through self-study and the exam (i.e., writing a report/paper based on the literature, lectures and self-study).
The exam consists of a brief report about a subject within aquaculture economics and management (maximum ten pages double-spaced), which each participant must write and send to the course organizer no later than two months after the end of the course. The participants are responsible for finding a suitable research question and, if needed, data for their analyses. The research question is required to be within the social sciences and needs to address an issue within aquaculture economics and management. It is encouraged that the research question is part of the participants’ PhD projects. In the report, the participants need to clearly state their research question(s).
A participant passes the exam if the report indicates that the student has obtained the intended learning outcome (see section “learning outcome”).
Each participant is paired with an expert who will evaluate their work.
The course assessment is "pass" or "fail" based on the quality of the work handed in. The evaluation includes an assessment of the insights and reflections presented using theory and empirical approaches presented in the course.
Lecturers
FRANK ASCHE, Institution: School of Forest, Fisheries and Geomatics Sciences and the Food Systems Institute, Florida
RAGNAR TVETERÅS, Institution: Center for Innovation Research, University of Stavanger
Md. AKHTARUZZAMAN KHAN, Department of Agricultural Finance, Bangladesh Agricultural University
KURT BUCHMANN, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen
Program:
Monday:
09:00- 09:45 – Introduction and practical information (Rasmus)
09:45-12:00 – Global aquaculture development from an Economic perspective (Frank)
12:00-13:00 - Lunch
13:00-16:00 – Diseases in aquaculture – Perspectives of genetics/breeding -
Vaccination/immunology in aquaculture (Kurt)
Tuesday:
09:00-10:30 - Integration of global markets for aquatic food products (Max)
10:30-12:00 - Demand and supply of aquatic food products (Max)
12:00-13:00 - Lunch
13:00-14:30 – Market interactions and global supply chains (Frank)
14:30-16:00 – Demand growth, product development and price transmission (Frank)
18:00 Social event - Dinner
Wednesday:
09:00-10:30 – Technology and resource capacity/governmental interactions – developing countries (M.A. Khan)
10:30-12:00 - Technological development and innovation, the world (Stavanger)
12:00-13:00 - Lunch
13:00-14:30 - Production economics and efficiency (Stavanger)
14:30-16:00 - Resource efficiency, productivity and development (Stavanger)
Thursday:
09:00-10:30 – Environmental externalities and regulation (Rasmus)
10:30-12:00 - Food security, poverty alleviation, income generation (M.A. Khan)
12:00-13:00 - Lunch
13:00-14:30 – Sustainable growth, environmental and climate impact (M.A. Khan)
14:30-16:00 - Global future development of aquaculture (Stavanger)
16:00 Social event afternoon
Friday:
10:00-11:00 – Writing papers (Max)
11:00-12:00 – Project idea generation for course assignment
12:00-13:00 - Lunch
13:00-14:00 – Editors view (Frank)
14:00-15:00 – Sum up and evaluation (Rasmus)
Remarks
The course starts when the reading material is distributed to registered students, the day following the end of the registration period, on 14 October 2025
The literature list can be sent on request
Funding from the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills may cover some student costs and course-related expenses. To apply, submit your CV, a motivation letter, and an outline of expenses to be covered by September 1. For more information, contact ruth.b.pincinato@uis.no