Towards Sustainable Aquaculture: Lessons from Gourami (Osphronemus goramy) Aquaculture in Indonesia Within a Global Context

Aquaculture now supplies over half of the fish consumed worldwide, yet its rapid growth presents trade-offs in environmental stewardship, biosecurity, market efficiency, and climate resilience. This study assessed the sustainability of Indonesian gourami (Osphronemus goramy) aquaculture and identifies strategic interventions to improve system performance. Employing Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) integrated with the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), data from 25 farms in Kemranjen, Banyumas (Central Java) were analyzed across four key dimensions—technical, economic, socio-institutional, and environmental. The resulting sustainability index of 59.69 classifies the system as “moderately sustainable,” with notable heterogeneity among dimensions. Technical practices are functional yet limited by inconsistent access to quality inputs, while economic performance is constrained by inadequate capital and elongated marketing chains. The socio-institutional dimension, particularly farmer group organization, demonstrates relative strength and acts as an enabling factor. In contrast, environmental sustainability remains weakest, hindered by land conversion pressures, insufficient waste and water management, suboptimal biosecurity, and climate-related stressors. Leverage analysis identifies high-impact actions: regulating land conversion and managing carrying capacity, improving financial access, strengthening the distribution of certified inputs, digitizing marketing networks, and institutionalizing biosecurity and climate adaptation. Comparative insights from Vietnam, Bangladesh, and European recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) highlight that targeted incremental improvements, supported by participatory governance, can yield substantial sustainability gains without imposing excessive costs. This study provides policymakers, investors, and practitioners with an empirically grounded framework and an actionable roadmap to transition Indonesian gourami aquaculture from a “moderate” toward a “high” level of sustainability.