We present a novel policy framework to evaluate and pursue growth in aquaculture considering four boundaries: biological productivity, environmental constraints to that productivity, policy that inhibits or promotes different kinds of aquaculture, and social preferences that determine aquaculture markets.

Small-scale farming of mud crabs (Scylla serrata) has been suggested as an alternative income for resource poor coastal communities in East Africa. However, it and it is unclear if the present culture methods are profitable and ecologically sustainable at larger scales. Here we assess the two dominant culture methods (crab fattening in cages and grow-out farming in ponds) using economic and ecological analyses in Kenya and Tanzania.

This paper explores the debate on participatory approach by presenting evidence from the local communities practices living within the marine protected area in Tanzania (Mnazi Bay Ruvuma-Estuary Marine Park). Five out of fifteen villages that exist in Mnazi Bay Marine Park were selected for this study after consultation with the park authority. Stratified sampling of villages was conducted based on the location from the Indian Ocean: three villages located close to the sea (sea front villages) and two villages located far from the sea (inland villages).