The overriding aim of the TROPECA project is to contribute to the sustainable development of aquaculture in tropical developing countries, through the production of a set of practical guidelines on environmental capacity that can be used by aquaculture operators and policy makers alike.

The key outputs of the TROPECA research will be:

• a comparative review of the use of simple environmental capacity models and adaptive management approaches in providing effective environmental management
• a review and summary of biological and physical indicators and their use in developing environmental quality standards for aquaculture
• a critical review of the applicability of instruments to allocate environmental capacity and sustainably manage aquaculture development
• the collaborative development of practical strategies for promoting aquaculture equitably within environmental capacity, based on in-country case-studies
• production of policy guidelines for developing aquaculture within the bounds of environmental capacity, which will be promoted by key agencies in Asia and further afield