aquaculture

1. The science, art, and business of cultivating marine or freshwater food fish or shellfish, such as oysters, clams, salmon, and trout, under controlled conditions.
2. Hydroponics.

The cultivation of fresh-water and marine species (the latter type is often referred to as mariculture). Aquacultural ventures occur worldwide. China grows macroalgae (seaweeds) and carp. Japan cultures a wide range of marine organisms, including yellowtail, sea bream, salmonids, tuna, penaeid shrimp, oysters, scallops, abalone, and algae. Russia concentrates on the culture of fish such as sturgeon, salmon, and carp. North America grows catfish, trout, salmon, oysters, and penaeid shrimp. Europe cultures flatfish, trout, oysters, mussels, and eels. Presently, plant aquaculture is almost exclusively restricted to Japan, China, and Korea, where the national diets include substantial amounts of macroalgae.

The worldwide practice of aquaculture runs the gamut from low-technology extensive methods to highly intensive systems. At one extreme, extensive aquaculture can be little more than contained stock replenishment, using natural bodies of water such as coastal embayments, where few if any alterations of the environment are made. Such culture usually requires a low degree of management and low investment and operating costs; it generally results in low yields per unit area. At the other extreme, intensive aquaculture, animals are grown in systems such as tanks and raceways, where the support parameters are carefully controlled and dependence on the natural environment is minimal. Such systems require a high degree of management and usually involve substantial investment and operating costs, resulting in high yields per unit area.

A unique combination of highly intensive and extensive aquaculture occurs in ocean ranching, as commonly employed with anadromous fish (which return from the ocean to rivers at the time of spawning). The two most notable examples are the ranching of salmon and sturgeon. In both instances, highly sophisticated hatchery systems are used to rear young fish, which are then released to forage and grow in their natural environment. The animals are harvested upon return to their native rivers.

Intensive aquaculture brings with it high energy costs, necessitating the design of energy-efficient systems. As this trend continues, aquaculture will shift more to a year-round, mass-production industry using the least amount of land and water possible. With this change to high technology and dense culturing, considerable knowledge and manipulation of the life cycles and requirements of each species are necessary. Specifically, industrialized aquaculture has mandated the development of reproductive control, hatchery technology, feeds technology, disease control, and systems engineering.

Regardless of the type of system used, aquacultural products are marketed as are fisheries products (which are caught in the ocean), except for some advantages. For one, fisheries products often must be transported on boats and may experience spoilage; whereas cultured products, which are land-based, can be delivered fresh to the various nearby markets. Also, intensively cultured products through genetic selection can result in a more desirable food than those caught in the wild, with uniform size and improved taste resulting from controlled feeding and rearing in pollution-free water. See also Agriculture; Marine fisheries.

[AH-kwah-kuhl-tcher] The cultivation of fish, shellfish or aquatic plants (such as seaweed) in natural or controlled marine or freshwater environments. Even though aquaculture began eons ago with the ancient Greeks, it wasn't until the 1980s that the practice finally began to expand rapidly. Aquaculture "farms" take on a variety of forms including huge tanks, freshwater ponds, and shallow- or deep-water marine environments. Today, the farming and harvesting of fish and shellfish is a multimillion-dollar business. Among the most popular denizens of the deep that are farmed are bivalves like oysters, clams and mussels; crustaceans like crayfish, lobsters and shrimp; and fish like catfish, salmon, trout and tilapia. See also hydroponics.

The use of waters, other than the sea, for agricultural production, usually the production of fish. See also fish farming.

For more information on aquaculture, visit Britannica.com.

Aquaculture, the controlled or semi-controlled production of aquatic plants and animals, has increased at double-digit percentage rates since the early 1980s. This increase has been in response to declines in commercial harvests of wild stocks of fish and shellfish. Oceans of the world are currently at maximum sustainable yield. Since the late 1980s, there has been a concerted effort to maintain global commercial harvest of ocean fish at approximately 100 million metric tons (mmt). However, as global population grows, demand for fish and shellfish increases, and the percentage of aquatic products grown in aquaculture must likewise rise to meet the supply of those products. Projections for increased production are in the range of 40–100 mmt of new aquaculture production by about the year 2030. The lower range assumes only increases in world population; the upper figure represents increases in world population plus a 1 percent per year increase in per capita consumption. To put this number in perspective, the 1995 world production figures for soybeans was 137 mmt, swine was 83 mmt, and chickens was 46 mmt. Thus, to meet demand in the first part of the twenty-first century, we must realize significant growth. This increase in production will not be accomplished with a single species.

There are fewer than thirty large species-specific aquaculture industries globally, and the fourteen largest industries are listed in the table. However, there are over twenty-five thousand species of fish and there are estimates that one thousand new species are being evaluated for their culture potential. The small percentage of species raised relative to the total number available is an indication that aquaculture is a new concept in many parts of the world. As a subsistence enterprise, aquaculture has been practiced for over four thousand years. As a series of large industries, aquaculture is less than fifty years old, often stimulated by declining wild stocks of fish. The channel catfish industry, which only began in the late 1960s in the southern United States, is illustrative of a relatively young industry. Today, over 90 percent of the U.S. supply of Atlantic salmon is cultured. In 1980, that figure was a fraction of 1 percent, at most. The global supply and demand characteristics created a good deal of volatility in production, which has only increased over time. Additional factors such as identification of new diseases and movement of those diseases contribute to the volatility in production. Inevitably, as new aquaculture species are brought into culture settings, new diseases are identified that were previously unknown. In the past ten years, new viral diseases have been identified in shrimp and salmon, both of which caused large-scale losses from production facilities.

Table 1

Of the approximately 25 mmt of global aquaculture production, there are only a few industries that produced over 1 mmt in 1996. Several of the species of Asian carp and the common carp account for the largest industries. Silver carp production was 2.2 mmt, grass carp production was 1.8 mmt, bighead carp production was 1.1 mmt, and common carp production was 1.5 mmt. Virtually all of this production occurred in China with the exception of common carp, which is raised throughout Europe, its native range. Of the species typically available in U.S. markets, pen-raised Atlantic salmon accounted for 0.4 mmt, rainbow trout production for 0.3 mmt, channel catfish production for 0.2 mmt, and tilapia for 0.6 mmt. Production of several invertebrates was significant. Scallop production was 1.0 mmt, shrimp production was 0.9 mmt, oyster production was 1.1 mmt, mussel production was 1.0 mmt, and clam production was 1.0 mmt. Production of brown seaweeds was 4.5 mmt and red seaweed production was 1.6 mmt. Thus, the largest aquaculture industry is the production of brown seaweeds, largely for nonfood use. In the twenty-first century, greater demand will likely result in increased production.

There are only a few production systems in use for aquaculture, and they include earthen ponds, raceways, cages or net pens, and indoor recirculating systems. Earthen ponds or cages placed in existing bodies of water are the oldest production system and the indoor recirculating systems are the newest. For successful culture, considerable technical expertise is required when using a recirculating system. All of the current industries use earthen ponds (catfish, tilapia, Asian carps, shrimp), raceways (rainbow trout), or cages/net pens (Atlantic salmon, yellowtail, an amberjack from Southeast Asia). Producers are experimenting with indoor recirculating systems using a wide variety of species. There are a few successful producers using indoor systems, but the number will inevitably grow as both the systems themselves and information on targeted species increase. Successful aquaculture can be viewed as the correct match of species under a certain set of market conditions with production system. Some species do not tolerate some of the production systems or do not thrive in those systems. Behavioral characteristics of the various species often point toward the appropriate culture systems. For example, sedentary fish (bluegill, catfish, and flounder) should probably be raised in systems without significant water flow (earthen ponds, cages/net pens), whereas those that typically swim a great deal (tuna, trout, and striped bass) can be raised in raceway systems with a constant flow of water.

Fish are generally considered good quality food for human consumption because of the low saturated fat levels and generally high levels of n-3 fatty acids. Fish tend to retain the fatty acids that are in their diet. Thus, we can manipulate the fatty acid concentrations of fish and produce "designer fish" for targeted markets. Further, we can control the fat concentration in muscle through selected feed and produce a low-fat or high-fat fish depending on the demands of the market. Cultured aquatic animals can be safer products for consumption than wild fish because they are raised in a defined environment, and pollutants can be eliminated. Wild fish can be exposed to environmental pollutants and retain those they encounter. Organoleptic properties (taste) of fish and shell-fish raised in aquaculture can be quite different from wild stocks. Fish flavor can be manipulated by dietary ingredients fed to the target species. If the diet contains a relatively high percentage of fish meal, the fish can taste fishier than if the diet contains a relatively high percentage of corn and soybean products. Fish fed the latter diets are often described as "milder" tasting, which is a desirable characteristic in certain markets. There is also a taste consideration with environment. Some species can survive both fresh-and saltwater, but osmoregulation changes to meet the challenges of those environments. This physiological change affects taste because of the chemical compounds used to regulate ionic balance. A good example of this is the freshwater shrimp. When raised in freshwater, taste has been described as mild, whereas if the shrimp is placed in saltwater for one to two weeks, it will taste more like a marine shrimp. Even with these positive attributes, aquaculture is experiencing growing pains.

Culture of aquatic animals produces the same wastes as other animal production industries. The problem is confounded by the fact that those wastes are discharged as rearing water is renewed. There have been incidences of environmental degradation resulting from aquaculture. One of the focal points of aquacultural research is waste management, focusing on phosphorus and nitrogen dynamics originating in the diet. Those efforts, as well as efforts related to siting aquaculture operations, land-use practices, and economic development, have become the focal point of sustainable aquaculture development. Along with the overall focus on sustainability, there are significant concerns about the feed used to achieve aquaculture's successes. Fish meal is a high-quality ingredient, yet it is a finite resource similar to all other species in the oceans. Ingredients made from soybeans, corn, canola, wheat, legumes, peanuts, and barley, as well as the by-products of the brewing industries and animal packing operations, are needed.

Growth of aquaculture in the twenty-first century will most likely be similar to growth in terrestrial animal production seen in the twentieth century. Fish and shell-fish are the last major food item humans still hunt and gather from wild populations. The sustainable nature of aquacultural production probably will be the focal point of research in the early part of the twenty-first century and those results should facilitate the production increases necessary for sufficient quantities of fish and shell-fish in the future.

Bibliography

Adelizi, Paul D., Ronald R. Rosati, Kathleen Warner, Y. Victor Wu, Tim R. Muench, M. Randall White, and Paul B. Brown. "Evaluation of Fish Meal-Free Diets for Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus mvkiss." Aquaculture Nutrition 4, no. 4 (1998): 255–262.

Donahue, Darrell W., Robert C. Bayer, John G. Riley, Alfred A. Bushway, Paul B. Brown, Russell A. Hazen, Keith E. Moore, and Dorothy A. Debruyne. "The Effect of Soy-Based Diets on Weight Gain, Shell Hardness, and Flavor of the American Lobster (Homarus americanus)." Journal of Aquatic Food Product Technology 8, no. 3 (1999): 69–77.

Floreto, Eric A. T., Robert C. Bayer, and Paul B. Brown. "The Effects of Soybean-Based Diets, with and without Amino Acid Supplementation, on Growth and Biochemical Composition of Juvenile American Lobster, Homarus americanus." Aquaculture 189 (2000): 211–235.

New, M. B. "Aquaculture and the Capture Fisheries—Balancing the Scales." World Aquaculture 28 (1997): 11–30.

Riche, M., and P. B. Brown. "Incorporation of Plant Protein Feedstuffs into Fish Meal Diets for Rainbow Trout Increases Phosphorus Availability." Aquaculture Nutrition 5 (1999): 101–105.

Twibell, Ronald G., and Paul B. Brown. "Optimum Dietary Crude Protein for Hybrid Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus x O. aureus Fed All-Plant Diets." Journal of the World Aquaculture Society 29 (1998): 9–16.

Twibell, Ronald G., Bruce A. Watkins, Laura Rogers, and Paul B. Brown. "Dietary Conjugated Linoleic Acids Alter Hepatic and Muscle Lipids in Hybrid Striped Bass. Lipids 35 (2000): 155–161.

Wu, Y. Victor, Ronald R. Rosati, and Paul B. Brown. "Effects of Lysine on Growth of Tilapia Fed Diets Rich in Corn Gluten Meal." Cereal Chemistry 75 (1998): 771–774.

Wu, Y. Victor, Kerry W. Tudor, Paul B. Brown, and Ronald R. Rosati. "Substitution of Plant Proteins or Meat and Bone Meal for Fish Meal in Diets of Nile Tilapia. North American Journal of Aquaculture 6 (1999): 58–63.

—Paul B. Brown

Cultivation and harvesting of plants and animals in water. Called also mariculture.

Aquaculture installations in southern Chile

Aquaculture is the farming of freshwater and saltwater organisms such as finfish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants.^[1][2] Also known as aquafarming, aquaculture involves cultivating aquatic populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish.^[3] One half of the world commercial production of fish and shellfish that is directly consumed by humans comes from aquaculture.^[4] Mariculture refers to aquaculture practiced in marine environments. Particular kinds of aquaculture include algaculture (the production of kelp/seaweed and other algae), fish farming, shrimp farming, oyster farming, and the growing of cultured pearls. Particular methods include aquaponics, which integrates fish farming and plant farming.

Contents 1 History 2 World production 3 Production by country 4 Environmental impact 5 Types of aquaculture 5.1 Mariculture 5.2 Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture 6 Species cultivated 6.1 Fish 6.2 Shellfish 6.3 Shrimp 6.4 Freshwater prawns 6.5 Algae 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links

History

Workers harvest catfish from the Delta Pride Catfish farms in Mississippi

Aquaculture began in China circa 2500 BC.^[5] When the waters subsided after river floods, some fishes, mainly carp, were trapped in lakes. Nascent aquaculturists fed their brood using nymphs and silkworm feces, and ate the fish for their protein. A fortunate genetic mutation of carp led to the emergence of goldfish during the Tang Dynasty.

Hawaiians practiced aquaculture by constructing fish ponds (see Hawaiian aquaculture). A remarkable example is a fish pond dating from at least 1,000 years ago, at Alekoko. Legend says that it was constructed by the mythical Menehune. The Japanese cultivated seaweed by providing bamboo poles and, later, nets and oyster shells to serve as anchoring surfaces for spores. The Romans bred fish in ponds.^[6]

In central Europe, early Christian monasteries adopted Roman aquacultural practices.^[7] Aquaculture spread in Europe during the Middle Ages, since away from the seacoasts and the big rivers, fish were scarce/expensive. Improvements in transportation during the 19th century made fish easily available and inexpensive, even in inland areas, making aquaculture less popular.

In 1859 Stephen Ainsworth of West Bloomfield, New York, began experiments with brook trout. By 1864 Seth Green had established a commercial fish hatching operation at Caledonia Springs, near Rochester, NY. By 1866, with the involvement of Dr. W. W. Fletcher of Concord Mass, artificial fish hatching operations were under way in both Canada and the United States.^[8] When the Dildo Island fish hatchery opened in Newfoundland Canada in 1889, it was the largest and most advanced in the world.

California residents harvested wild kelp and attempted to manage supply starting circa 1900, later labeling it a wartime resource.^[9]

Tilapia, a commonly farmed fish due to its adaptability

About 430 (97%) of the aquatic species cultured as of 2007 were domesticated during the 20th century, of which an estimated 106 aquatic species came in the decade to 2007. Given the long-term importance of agriculture, it is interesting to note that to date only 0.08% of known land plant species and 0.0002% of known land animal species have been domesticated, compared with 0.17% of known marine plant species and 0.13% of known marine animal species. Domesticating an aquatic species typically involves about a decade of scientific research.^[10] Aquatic species involve fewer risks than that of land animals, which took a large toll in human lives through diseases such as smallpox and bird and swine flu, that like most infectious diseases, are transferred to humans from animals. No human pathogens of comparable virulence have yet emerged from marine species.

Stagnation in harvests from wild fisheries and overexploitation of popular marine species, combined with a growing demand for this high quality protein encourages aquaculturists to domesticate other marine species.^[11][12]

World production

In 2004, the total world production of fisheries was 140.5 million tonnes of which aquaculture contributed 45.5 million tonnes or about 32% of the total world production.^[13] The growth rate of worldwide aquaculture has been sustained and rapid, averaging about 8 percent per annum for over thirty years, while the take from wild fisheries has been essentially flat for the last decade.

Average annual percentage growth for different species groups[13]
Time period	Crustaceans	Molluscs	Freshwater fish	Diadromous fish	Marine fish	Overall
1970–2004	18.9	7.7	9.3	7.3	10.5	8.8
1970–1980	23.9	5.6	6.0	6.5	14.1	6.2
1980–1990	24.1	7.0	13.1	9.4	5.3	10.8
1990–2000	9.1	11.6	10.5	6.5	12.5	10.5
2000–2004	19.2	5.3	5.2	5.8	9.6	6.3

Major species groups in 2004
Species group	Million tonnes[13]
Freshwater fishes	23.87
Molluscs	13.93
Aquatic plants	13.24
Diadromous fishes	3.68
Crustaceans	2.85
Marine fishes	1.45
Other aquatic animals	0.38

Top ten species groups in 2004
Species group	Million tonnes[13]
Carps and other cyprinids	18.30
Oysters	4.60
Clams, cockles, ark shells	4.12
Miscellaneous freshwater fishes	3.74
Shrimps, prawns	2.48
Salmons, trouts, smelts	1.98
Mussels	1.86
Tilapias and other cichlids	1.82
Scallops, pectens	1.17
Miscellaneous marine molluscs	1.07

Production by country

Aquaculture is an especially important economic activity in China. Between 1980 and 1997, the Chinese Bureau of Fisheries reports, aquaculture harvests grew at an annual rate of 16.7 percent, jumping from 1.9 million to nearly 23 million tons. In 2005, China accounted for 70% of the world's aquaculture production.^[14][15] It is currently one of the fastest growing areas of agriculture in the U.S. ^[16]

Top ten aquaculture producers in 2004
Country	Million tonnes[13]
China	30.61
India	2.47
Viet Nam	1.20
Thailand	1.17
Indonesia	1.05
Bangladesh	0.91
Japan	0.78
Chile	0.67
Norway	0.64
United States	0.61
Other countries	5.35
Total	45.47

Approximately 90% of all U.S. shrimp consumption is farmed and imported.^[17] In recent years salmon aquaculture has become a major export in southern Chile, especially in Puerto Montt, Chile's fastest-growing city.

Environmental impact

As aquaculture has grown, so have concerns about its environmental impact. In fact, aquaculture can be more environmentally damaging than exploiting wild fisheries.^[18] Concerns include waste handling, side-effects of antibiotics, competition between farmed and wild animals, and using other fish to feed consumer-desired carnivorous fish. However, research and commercial feed improvements during the 1990s & 2000s have lessened many of these .^[19]

About 20 percent of mangrove forests have vanished since 1980, partly due to aqua-farming.^[20]

Fish waste is organic and composed of nutrients necessary in all components of aquatic food webs. In-ocean aquaculture often produces much higher than normal concentrations of fish waste in the water. The waste collects on the ocean bottom, damaging or eliminating bottom-dwelling life. Waste can also decrease dissolved oxygen levels in the water column, putting further pressure on wild animals.

Cultivators often supply their animals with antibiotics to prevent disease. As with livestock, this can accelerate the evolution of bacterial resistance.

Fish can escape, where they can encounter wild fish and dilute wild genetic stocks through interbreeding.^[21] Escaped fish can become invasive and therefore can have a damaging environmental impact.^[22]

Farming carnivorous fish such as salmon typically increases the pressure on wild fish, because producing one kilo of farmed salmon requires up to six kilo of fish or other protein.^[23] Adequate diets for salmon and other carnivorous fish can be formulated from protein sources such as soy, although are concerns about changes in the balance between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.^[24]

Other aquaculture "crops" such as seaweed and filter-feeding bivalve mollusks such as oysters, clams, mussels and scallops are relatively benign or even restorative environmentally.^[25] Filter-feeders filter pollutants as well as nutrients from the water, improving water quality.^[26] Seaweeds extract nutrients such as inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus directly from the water,^[27] and filter-feeding mollusks can extract nutrients as they feed on particulates phytoplankton and detritus.^[28]

Despite the environmental concerns, profitable aquaculture can funnel money into promoting sustainable practices.^[29] New methods lessen the risk of biological and chemical pollution through minimizing fish stress, fallowing netpens, and applying Integrated Pest Management. Vaccines are being used more and more to reduce antibiotic use for disease control.^[30]

Onshore recirculating aquaculture systems, facilities using polyculture techniques, and properly-sited facilities (e.g. offshore areas with strong currents) are examples of ways to manage the negative environmental effects.

Types of aquaculture

Mariculture

Main article: Mariculture

Mariculture is a specialized branch of aquaculture involving the cultivation of marine organisms in the open ocean, an enclosed section of the ocean, or in tanks, ponds or raceways which are filled with seawater. An example of the latter is the farming of marine fish, prawns, or oysters in saltwater ponds. Non-food products produced by mariculture include: fish meal, nutrient agar, jewelry (e.g. cultured pearls) and cosmetics.

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture

Main article: Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture

Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) is a practice in which the by-products (wastes) from one species are recycled to become inputs (fertilizers, food) for another. Fed aquaculture (e.g. fish, shrimp) is combined with inorganic extractive (e.g. seaweed) and organic extractive (e.g. shellfish) aquaculture to create balanced systems for environmental sustainability (biomitigation), economic stability (product diversification and risk reduction) and social acceptability (better management practices).^[27]

"Multi-Trophic" refers to the incorporation of species from different trophic or nutritional levels in the same system.^[31] This is one potential distinction from the age-old practice of aquatic polyculture, which could simply be the co-culture of different fish species from the same trophic level. In this case, these organisms may all share the same biological and chemical processes, with few synergistic benefits, which could potentially lead to significant shifts in the ecosystem. Some traditional polyculture systems may, in fact, incorporate a greater diversity of species, occupying several niches, as extensive cultures (low intensity, low management) within the same pond. The "Integrated" in IMTA refers to the more intensive cultivation of the different species in proximity of each other, connected by nutrient and energy transfer through water.

Ideally, the biological and chemical processes in an IMTA system should balance. This is achieved through the appropriate selection and proportions of different species providing different ecosystem functions. The co-cultured species are typically more than just biofilters; they are harvestable crops of commercial value.^[31] A working IMTA system can result in greater total production based on mutual benefits to the co-cultured species and improved ecosystem health, even if the production of individual species is lower than in a monoculture over a short term period.^[32]

Sometimes the term "Integrated Aquaculture" is used to describe the integration of monocultures through water transfer.^[32] For all intents and purposes however, the terms "IMTA" and "integrated aquaculture" differ only in their degree of descriptiveness.Aquaponics, fractionated aquaculture, IAAS (integrated agriculture-aquaculture systems), IPUAS (integrated peri-urban-aquaculture systems), and IFAS (integrated fisheries-aquaculture systems) are other variations of the IMTA concept.

Species cultivated

Fish

Main article: Fish farming

Fish farming is the most common form of aquaculture. It involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases juvenile fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species' natural numbers is generally referred to as a fish hatchery. Fish species raised by fish farms include salmon, catfish, tilapia, cod, carp, tuna^[33] and trout.

Shellfish

Abalone farm

See also: Oyster farming

Farming of abalone began in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Japan and China.^[34] Since the mid-1990s, there have been many increasingly successful endeavours to commercially farm abalone for the purpose of consumption.^[35] Over-fishing and poaching have reduced wild populations to such an extent that farmed abalone now supplies most of the abalone meat consumed.

Shrimp

Main article: Shrimp farm

A shrimp farm is an aquaculture business for the cultivation of marine shrimp for human consumption. Commercial shrimp farming began in the 1970s, and production grew steeply thereafter. Global production reached more than 1.6 million tonnes in 2003, representing a value of nearly 9,000 million U.S. dollars. About 75% of farmed shrimp is produced in Asia, in particular in China and Thailand. The other 25% is produced mainly in Latin America, where Brazil is the largest producer. Thailand is the largest exporter.

Shrimp farming has changed from its traditional, small-scale form in Southeast Asia into a global industry. Technological advances have led to ever higher densities per unit area, and broodstock is shipped worldwide. Virtually all farmed shrimp are penaeids (i.e., shrimp of the family Penaeidae), and just two species of shrimp—the Penaeus vannamei (Pacific white shrimp) and the Penaeus monodon (giant tiger prawn) account for roughly 80% of all farmed shrimp. These industrial monocultures are very susceptible to disease, which has decimated shrimp populations across entire regions. Increasing ecological problems, repeated disease outbreaks, and pressure and criticism from both NGOs and consumer countries led to changes in the industry in the late 1990s and generally stronger regulation by governments. In 1999, governments, industry representatives, and environmental organizations initiated a program aimed at developing and promoting more sustainable farming practices.

Freshwater prawns

Main article: Freshwater prawn farm

Freshwater prawn farming shares many characteristics with, and many of the same problems as, marine shrimp farming. Unique problems are introduced by the developmental life cycle of the main species (the giant river prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii).^[36]

The global annual production of freshwater prawns (excluding crayfish and crabs) in 2003 was about 280,000 tons, of which China produced 180,000 tons, followed by India and Thailand with 35,000 tons each. Additionally, China produced about 370,000 tons of Chinese river crab (Eriocheir sinensis).^[37]

Algae

An open pond Spirulina farm

Main article: Algaculture

Algaculture is a form of aquaculture involving the farming of species of algae. Microalgae, also referred to as phytoplankton, microphytes, or planktonic algae constitute the majority of cultivated algae.

Macroalgae, commonly known as seaweed, also have many commercial and industrial uses, but due to their size and specific requirements, they are not easily cultivated on a large scale and are most often taken in the wild.

See also

Sustainable development portal

Water portal

• Algaculture
• Aquaponics
• Agroecology
• Fish farming
• Fisheries science
• Mariculture
• Industrial agriculture
• Shrimp farm
• Prawn farm

Notes

1. ^ Environmental Impact of Aquaculture
2. ^ Aquaculture’s growth continuing: improved management techniques can reduce environmental effects of the practice.(UPDATE).” Resource: Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World 16.5 (2009): 20-22. Gale Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 1 Oct. 2009. <http://find.galegroup.com/‌gtx/‌start.do?prodId=EAIM.>.
3. ^ American Heritage Definition of Aquaculture
4. ^ Template:Citation journal
5. ^ "History of Aquaculture". Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations. http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/009/ag158e/AG158E02.htm. Retrieved 23 August 2009. 
6. ^ "The Harbor and Fishery Remains at Cosa, Italy, by Anna Marguerite McCann". Journal of Field Archaeology 6(4):291-311.. http://www.jstor.org/stable/529424. Retrieved 10 September 2009. 
7. ^ Jhingran, V.G., Introduction to aquaculture. 1987, United Nations Development Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research.
8. ^ Milner, James W. (1874). "The Progress of Fish-culture in the United States". United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries Report of the Commissioner for 1872 and 1873. 535 – 544 <http://penbay.org/cof/cof_1872_1873.html>
9. ^ Peter Neushul, Seaweed for War: California's World War I kelp industry, Technology and Culture 30 (July 1989), 561-583.
10. ^ http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;316/5823/382
11. ^ "'FAO: 'Fish farming is the way forward.'(Big Picture)(Food and Agriculture Administration's 'State of Fisheries and Aquaculture' report)." The Ecologist 39.4 (2009): 8-9. Gale Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 1 Oct. 2009. <http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/start.do?prodId=EAIM.>.
12. ^ "The Case for Fish and Oyster Farming," Carl Marziali, University of Southern California Trojan Family Magazine, May 17, 2009.
13. ^ ^{a b c d e} FAO (2006) The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOPHIA)
14. ^ Wired 12.05: The Bluewater Revolution
15. ^ washingtonpost.com: Fish Farming's Bounty Isn't Without Barbs
16. ^ [1]
17. ^ The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) 2004
18. ^ Diamond, Jared. Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed. Viking Press, 2005. pgs. 479-485
19. ^ Costa-Pierce, B.A., Author/Editor. 2002. Ecological Aquaculture. Blackwell Science, Oxford, UK.
20. ^ Heroes of the Environment 2008: Jurgenne Primavera Time special report. September 24, 2009.
21. ^ David Suzuki Foundation: Open-net-cage fish farming
22. ^ "'Aquaculture's growth continuing: improved management techniques can reduce environmental effects of the practice.(UPDATE)." Resource: Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World 16.5 (2009): 20-22. Gale Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 1 Oct. 2009. <http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/start.do?prodId=EAIM.>.
23. ^ Swiss WWF Factsheet, Page 7, Heading "Fische und Meeresfrüchte aus Zuchten"
24. ^ Espe, M., A. Lemme, A. Petei, and A. El-Mowafi. 2006. Can Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) grow on diets devoid of fish meal? Aquaculture 255:255-262
25. ^ "The Case for Fish and Oyster Farming," Carl Marziali, University of Southern California Trojan Family Magazine, May 17, 2009.
26. ^ OSTROUMOV S. A. (2005). "Some aspects of water filtering activity of filter-feeders". Hydrobiologia 542: 400. http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17195907. Retrieved September 26, 2009. 
27. ^ ^{a b} Template:Citation journal
28. ^ "Environmental impacts of shellfish aquaculture". 2008. http://www.nrac.umd.edu/files/Factsheets/105-Environmental%20effects.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-08. 
29. ^ "Aquaculture: Issues and Opportunities for Sustainable Production and Trade". ITCSD. July 2006. 
30. ^ "Pew Oceans Commission report on Aquaculture"
31. ^ ^{a b} Chopin T. 2006. Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture. What it is, and why you should care... and don’t confuse it with polyculture. Northern Aquaculture, Vol. 12, No. 4, July/August 2006, pg. 4.
32. ^ ^{a b} Neori A, Chopin T, Troell M, Buschmann AH, Kraemer GP, Halling C, Shpigel M and Yarish C. 2004. Integrated aquaculture: rationale, evolution and state of the art emphasizing seaweed biofiltration in modern mariculture. Aquaculture 231: 361-391.
33. ^ "Hawaii regulators approve first US tuna farm‎". The Associated Press. October 24, 2009. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIg_1XadMxI68UaNlH2WUHf0F18QD9BH6M880. Retrieved October 28, 2009. 
34. ^ "Abalone Farming Information". http://www.fishtech.com/abaloneinfo.html. Retrieved 2007-11-08. 
35. ^ "Abalone Farming on a Boat". http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,49847,00.html. Retrieved 2007-01-27. 
36. ^ New, M. B.: Farming Freshwater Prawns; FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 428, 2002. ISSN 0429-9345.
37. ^ Data extracted from the FAO Fisheries Global Aquaculture Production Database for freshwater crustaceans. The most recent data sets are for 2003 and sometimes contain estimates. Retrieved June 28, 2005.

References

• Corpron, K.E., Armstrong, D.A., 1983. Removal of nitrogen by an aquatic plant, Elodea densa, in recirculating Macrobrachium culture systems. Aquaculture 32, 347-360.
• Duarte, Carlos M; Marbá, Nùria and Holmer, Marianne (2007) Rapid Domestication of Marine Species. Science. Vol 316, no 5823, pp 382–383. podcast
• J. G. Ferreira, A.J.S. Hawkins, S.B. Bricker, 2007. Management of productivity, environmental effects and profitability of shellfish aquaculture – The Farm Aquaculture Resource Management (FARM) model. Aquaculture, 264, 160-174.
• GESAMP (2008) Assessment and communication of environmental risks in coastal aquaculture FAO Reports and Studies No 76. ISBN 978-92-5-105947-0
• Hepburn, J. 2002. Taking Aquaculture Seriously. Organic Farming, Winter 2002 © Soil Association.
• Kinsey, Darin, 2006 "'Seeding the water as the earth' : epicentre and peripheries of a global aquacultural revolution. Environmental History 11, 3: 527-66
• Naylor, R.L., S.L. Williams, and D.R. Strong. 2001. Aquaculture – A Gateway For Exotic Species. Science, 294: 1655-6.
• The Scottish Association for Marine Science and Napier University. 2002. Review and synthesis of the environmental impacts of aquaculture
• Higginbotham James Piscinae: Artificial Fishponds in Roman Italy University of North Carolina Press (June, 1997)
• Wyban, Carol Araki (1992) Tide and Current: Fishponds of Hawai'I University of Hawaii Press:: ISBN 0-8248-1396-0
• Timmons, M.B., Ebeling, J.M., Wheaton, F.W., Summerfelt, S.T., Vinci, B.J., 2002. Recirculating Aquaculture Systems: 2nd edition. Cayuga Aqua Ventures.
• Piedrahita, R.H., 2003. Reducing the potential environmental impacts of tank aquaculture effluents through intensification and recirculation. Aquaculture 226, 35-44.
• Klas, S., Mozes, N., Lahav, O., 2006. Development of a single-sludge denitrification method for nitrate removal from RAS effluents: Lab-scale results vs. model prediction. Aquaculture 259, 342-353.

Further reading

• AquaLingua ISBN 82-529-2389-5
• Rice–Fish Culture in China (1995), ISBN 9780889367760, OCLC 35883297

External links

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Look up aquaculture in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aquaculture

Global

• Aquaculture at the Open Directory Project
• Aquaculture science at the Open Directory Project
• FAO (2007) Medium-term challenges and constaints for aquaculture ISBN 978-92-5-105568-7
• FAO (2000) Aquaculture in the Third Millennium
• FAO Fisheries Department and its SOFIA report on fisheries and aquaculture
• The World Aquaculture Society: an international non-profit society with over 3,000 members in 94 countries with the primary focus to improve communication and information exchange within the diverse global aquaculture community.
• The Coastal Resources Center provides a range of guidelines, policies and best practices and case studies on shrimp farming, seaweed farming and shellfish culture.

Regional

• Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific: Intergovernmental organization with 17 members that produce > 85% of global aquaculture production. Free news and full-text aquaculture publications for download.
• NOAA aquaculture: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – website for information about marine aquaculture in the US and elsewhere.
• Aquaculture In Alaska
• Social & Economic Benefits of Aquaculture from "NOAA Socioeconomics" website initiative
• Aquaculture Association of Canada:
• American Fisheries Society
• Aquaculture Information from the Coastal Ocean Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Aquaculture Information Bureau: Scottish based Aquaculture Information Bureau.
• Fisheries and Illinois Aquaculture Center: Midwest US research center.

Topic Specific

• Aqua Farm Designs - Benefits of Water recirculation systems in Aquaculture: Description of water recirculation aquaculture systems and benefits of using these types of farm designs to produce fish within eco-friendly land based enclosed aquaculture operations.
• FishingHurts.com/FishFarms: Criticism of aquaculture's effects on animal welfare and the environment
• Watershed Watch Society Salmon farming and sea lice
• Web based aquaculture simulations for shellfish in estuaries and coastal systems: Simulation modelling for mussels, oysters and clams.

Web Resources

• Aqua KE—Aquaculture Research Database
• Aquaculture Resources Directory A directory of reference links and downloadable reports, articles from numerous sources.
• Organic Aquaculture: Articles and references on the merits and otherwise of farming fish organically.
• Read Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Aquaculture
• Guide to on-line resources in aquaculture, fisheries and aquatic science
• Aquaculture Resources for Ethno-Anthropologists News mirror service in the field of aquaculture with focus on its social effects
• Aquaculture Knowledge Environment: A searchable online library of government and United Nations documents covering nearly every aspect of aquaculture from pond construction to international codes of conduct.
• AquaNIC A comprehensive information server for aquaculture topics, including publications, news, events, job announcements, images, and related resources.
• Aquaculture and Information
• AAAS science magazine feature on aquaculture
• Aquaculture and the Protection of Wild Salmon
• SoCal Aquaponics is a facility that is established to grow the best quality organically grown Tilapia, Shrimp and Vegetables.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - fiskeopdræt, dyrkning af vandplanter

Nederlands (Dutch)
hydrocultuur

Français (French)
n. - aquaculture

Deutsch (German)
n. - Fischzucht

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - υδατοκαλλιέργεια

Italiano (Italian)
idroponica

Português (Portuguese)
n. - aquacultura (f)

Русский (Russian)
гидропоника

Español (Spanish)
n. - acuicultura

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - vattenbruk, havsodling

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
水产业

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 水產業

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 수경법, 양어

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 水産養殖, 水耕法

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) زراعه مائيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮גידול של חיות או צמחי מים‬

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