Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater, brackish water, and saltwater populations under controlled or semi-natural conditions and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. Aquaculture is also a practice used for restoring and rehabilitating marine and freshwater ecosystems. Mariculture, commonly known as marine farming, is aquaculture in seawater habitats and lagoons, as opposed to freshwater aquaculture. Pisciculture is a type of aquaculture that consists of fish farming to obtain fish products as food.
Mariculture, sometimes called marine farming or marine aquaculture, is a branch of aquaculture involving the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other animal products, in seawater. Subsets of it include, fish farms built on littoral waters, or in artificial tanks, ponds or raceways which are filled with seawater. An example of the latter is the farming of plankton and seaweed, shellfish like shrimp or oysters, and marine finfish, in saltwater ponds. Non-food products produced by mariculture include: fish meal, nutrient agar, jewellery, and cosmetics.
Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of microorganisms that may deplete the oxygen of water. Eutrophication may occur naturally or as a result of human actions. Manmade, or cultural, eutrophication occurs when sewage, industrial wastewater, fertilizer runoff, and other nutrient sources are released into the environment. Such nutrient pollution usually causes algal blooms and bacterial growth, resulting in the depletion of dissolved oxygen in water and causing substantial environmental degradation.
Selective breeding is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant males and females will sexually reproduce and have offspring together. Domesticated animals are known as breeds, normally bred by a professional breeder, while domesticated plants are known as varieties, cultigens, cultivars, or breeds. Two purebred animals of different breeds produce a crossbreed, and crossbred plants are called hybrids. Flowers, vegetables and fruit-trees may be bred by amateurs and commercial or non-commercial professionals: major crops are usually the provenance of the professionals.
Artemia is a genus of aquatic crustaceans also known as brine shrimp, Aqua Dragons or sea monkeys. It is the only genus in the family Artemiidae. The first historical record of the existence of Artemia dates back to the first half of the 10th century AD from Lake Urmia, Iran, with an example called by an Iranian geographer an "aquatic dog", although the first unambiguous record is the report and drawings made by Schlösser in 1757 of animals from Lymington, England. Artemia populations are found worldwide, typically in inland saltwater lakes, but occasionally in oceans. Artemia are able to avoid cohabiting with most types of predators, such as fish, by their ability to live in waters of very high salinity.
The channel catfish, known informally as the "channel cat", is North America's most abundant catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Tennessee. The channel catfish is the most fished species of catfish in the United States, with around 8 million anglers angeling them per year. The popularity of channel catfish for food has contributed to the rapid expansion of this species' aquaculture in the United States. It has also been widely introduced to Europe, Asia and South America, and many countries consider it an invasive species.
The barred knifejaw, also known as the striped beakfish or rock bream, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, from the family Oplegnathidae. It is commonly native to the north-western Pacific Ocean, though a smattering of records exist from other localities in the eastern Pacific such as Hawaii and Chile. Recently introduced – likely via ballast water – in the central Mediterranean, it is found very rarely from Malta to the northern Adriatic. There is no listed conservation status for this species, though it is farmed for consumption and angling in many Asian countries suggesting it is common.
The term coldwater fish can have different meanings in different contexts.
Algaculture is a form of aquaculture involving the farming of species of algae.
Oplegnathus is currently the sole recognized genus in the knifejaw family (Oplegnathidae) of marine centrarchiform ray-finned fishes. The largest, the Cape knifejaw, can reach a maximum length around 90 cm (35 in). Knifejaws have teeth fused into a parrot-like beak in adulthood. They feed on barnacles and mollusks, and are fished commercially. They are native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
The humpback grouper, also known as the panther grouper, barramundi cod,lapu-lapung senorita, miro-miro, sarasa-hata, kalava, and many other local names, is a species of marine ray-finned fish. Specifically, it's a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae, which is in the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It occurs in the Western Pacific Ocean.
Seaweed farming or kelp farming is the practice of cultivating and harvesting seaweed. In its simplest form farmers gather from natural beds, while at the other extreme farmers fully control the crop's life cycle.
Sphoeroides annulatus is a species in the family Tetraodontidae, or pufferfishes. It is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from California, USA to Pisco, Peru and the Galápagos Islands.
Betanodavirus, or nervous necrosis virus (NNV), is a genus of nonenveloped positive-strand RNA viruses in the family Nodaviridae. Member viruses infect fish and cause viral nervous necrosis (VNN) and viral encephalopathy and retinopathy (VER). The genus contains four species.
Ulva prolifera, also known as the branched string lettuce, is a species of seaweed algae in the family Ulvaceae that can be found worldwide.
Biofloc technology (BFT) is a system of aquaculture that uses "microbial biotechnology to increase the efficacy and utilization of fish feeds, where toxic materials such as nitrogen components are treated and converted to a useful product, like a protein for using as supplementary feeds to the fish and crustaceans."
Seaweed fertiliser is organic fertilizer made from seaweed that is used in agriculture to increase soil fertility and plant growth. The use of seaweed fertilizer dates back to antiquity and has a broad array of benefits for soils. Seaweed fertilizer can be applied in a number of different forms, including refined liquid extracts and dried, pulverized organic material. Through its composition of various bioactive molecules, seaweed functions as a strong soil conditioner, bio-remediator, and biological pest control, with each seaweed phylum offering various benefits to soil and crop health. These benefits can include increased tolerance to abiotic stressors, improved soil texture and water retention, and reduced occurrence of diseases.
Cynoglossus semilaevis, commonly known as the Chinese tongue sole, is a popular aquaculture flatfish species. They are native to China's northern coast but have experienced overfishing these past three decades. Tongue sole farming began in 2003 and they have since become a popular, expensive seafood. However, tongue soles have created issues for farmers due to their pathogen susceptibility and uneven sex ratio.
Oplegnathus robinsoni, the Natal knifejaw, or also commonly known as Cuckoo Bass and Natalse Kraaibek, is a ray-finned fish that is endemic to the east coast of South Africa and Mozambique. They occur northwards from Transkei.
