Creating sustainable futures/CSF104/Right tools/Credibility

In conventional economics, success is evaluated by financial measures that show how much profit has been made. Any profit that is not reinvested into developing the business for the future is generally distributed to shareholders. The traditional measure of ‘profit’ is, however, increasingly controversial because a number of ‘costs’ involved in commercial activities are not factored into the businesses profit and loss accounts. For example, farmers don’t have to pay for the run-off of agri-chemicals into water so long as legal limits are not exceeded. This is one simple example of an ‘externalised’ cost that is ultimately borne by society at large. In essence, the traditional measures of successful farming don’t take into account the impacts on, or health of surrounding ecosystems; but are generally focused on the level of productivity and profitability.

However this is not the case at a fish farm in Southern Spain. Here success is measured by the cleanliness of its water and by how many predators (yes predators) for the fish it produces. This has ramifications for all farming.