Fish farming or pisciculture involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures such as fish ponds, usually for food. It is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. 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. Worldwide, the most important fish species produced in fish farming are carp, tilapia, salmon, and catfish.
WorldFish is an international, nonprofit research organization with headquarters in Penang, Malaysia, and offices in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. WorldFish’s mission is to harness the potential of fisheries and aquaculture to reduce poverty and hunger in developing countries.
The cobia is a species of perciform marine fish, the only representative of the genus Rachycentron and the family Rachycentridae. Other common names include black kingfish, black salmon, ling, lemonfish, crabeater, prodigal son and black bonito.
Jasus edwardsii, the southern rock lobster, red rock lobster, or spiny rock lobster, is a species of spiny lobster found throughout coastal waters of southern Australia and New Zealand including the Chatham Islands. This species is commonly called crayfish or crays in both Australia and New Zealand and kōura in Māori. They resemble lobsters, but lack the large characteristic pincers on the first pair of walking legs.
Marine shrimp farming is an aquaculture business for the cultivation of marine shrimp or prawns for human consumption. Although traditional shrimp farming has been carried out in Asia for centuries, large-scale commercial shrimp farming began in the 1970s, and production grew steeply, particularly to match the market demands of the United States, Japan and Western Europe. The total global production of farmed shrimp reached more than 1.6 million tonnes in 2003, representing a value of nearly 9 billion 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, Ecuador, and Mexico are the largest producers. The largest exporting nation is Thailand.
Inland saline aquaculture is the farming or culture of aquatic animals and plants using inland sources of saline groundwater rather than the more common coastal aquaculture methods. As a side benefit, it can be used to reduce the amount of salt in underground water tables, leading to an improvement in the surrounding land usage for agriculture. Due to its nature, it is only commercially possible in areas that have large reserves of saline groundwater, such as Australia.
Fishing in India is a major industry in its coastal states, employing over 14 million people. In 2016-17, the country exported 11,34,948 metric tonnes of seafood worth US$ 5.78 billion, frozen shrimp being the top item of export. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, fish production has increased more than tenfold since 1947 and doubled between 1990 and 2010.
Aquacultural engineering is a multidisciplinary field of engineering that aims to solve technical problems associated with farming aquatic vertebrates, invertebrates, and algae. Common aquaculture systems requiring optimization and engineering include sea cages, ponds, and recirculating systems. The design and management of these systems is based on their production goals and the economics of the farming operation.
This page lists the world fisheries production for 2016 and 2005. The tonnage from capture and aquaculture is listed by country.
China, with one-fifth of the world's population, accounts for one-third of the world's reported fish production and two-thirds of the worlds reported aquaculture production.
Aquaculture in Australia is the country's fastest growing primary industry, accounting for 34% of the total gross value of production of seafood. 10 species of fish are farmed in Australia, and production is dominated by southern bluefin tuna, Atlantic salmon and barramundi. Mud crabs have also been cultivated in Australia for many years, sometimes leading to over-exploitation. Traditionally, this aquaculture was limited to pearls, but since the early 1970s, there has been significant research and commercial development of other forms of aquaculture, including finfish, crustaceans, and molluscs.
The aquaculture of salmonids is the farming and harvesting of salmonids under controlled conditions for both commercial and recreational purposes. Salmonids, along with carp, and tilapia are the three most important fish species in aquaculture. The most commonly commercially farmed salmonid is the Atlantic salmon. In the U.S. Chinook salmon and rainbow trout are the most commonly farmed salmonids for recreational and subsistence fishing through the National Fish Hatchery System. In Europe, brown trout are the most commonly reared fish for recreational restocking. Commonly farmed nonsalmonid fish groups include tilapia, catfish, sea bass, and bream.
China, with one-fifth of the world's population, accounts for two-thirds of the world's reported aquaculture production.
Rising ocean temperatures and ocean acidification are radically altering aquatic ecosystems. Climate change is modifying fish distribution and the productivity of marine and freshwater species. This has impacts on the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture, on the livelihoods of the communities that depend on fisheries, and on the ability of the oceans to capture and store carbon. The effect of sea level rise means that coastal fishing communities are in the front line of climate change, while changing rainfall patterns and water use impact on inland (freshwater) fisheries and aquaculture. The full relationship between fisheries and climate change is difficult to explore due to the context of each fishery and the many pathways that climate change affects.
Organic aquaculture is a holistic method for farming marine species in line with organic principles. The ideals of this practice established sustainable marine environments with consideration for naturally occurring ecosystems, use of pesticides, and the treatment of aquatic life. Managing aquaculture organically has become more popular since consumers are concerned about the harmful impacts of aquaculture on themselves and the environment.
South Korea occupies the southern portion of the Korean peninsula. The total land mass of the country is 98,480 km2 but usable land is only 20% of the total and thus the population is concentrated around the coast. The Korean Peninsula is surrounded by the East, West and South Seas, a coast-line that extends for about 2,413 km. Endowed with an abundance of fisheries resources, Koreans have developed a distinct seafood culture with annual per capita sea food consumption of 48.1 kg in 2005.
Geoduck aquaculture or geoduck farming is the practice of cultivating geoducks for human consumption. The geoduck is a large edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk, that is native to the Pacific Northwest.
Aquaculture started to take off in Madagascar in the 1980s. The majority of Aquaculture in Madagascar includes the cultivation of sea cucumbers, seaweed, fish and shrimp. Aquaculture in Madagascar is being used to stimulate the countries economy, increase the wages of fishermen and women in the area and improve the regions ocean water quality. Coastal regions of Madagascar are reliant on the Indian Oceans marine resources as a source of food, income, and cultural identity. Madagascar is the fourth-largest island in the world and consists of the main island, as well as smaller surrounding islands. Madagascar is considered to be a biodiversity hotspot. Over 90 percent of its wildlife is not found anywhere else on Earth. In the Velondriake, a locally managed marine area (LMMA) in southwest Madagascar, laws have been created by an official governing body, consisting of elected representatives from 25 villages, called ‘dina’, to combat environmental degradation. This LMMA includes coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, baobab forests and other threatened habitats. The Vezo, literally meaning ‘people who fish’ in the Malagasy language of the region, are amongst Madagascar's poorest. Making environmentally conscious efforts to boost the economy and raise incomes are top priorities for the LMMA.
