Aquaculture consists on the application of farming techniques on the production of marine and freshwater organisms, such as fish, crustaceans, bivalves and aquatic plants. This industry targets the productions of organisms for human consumption, ornamental trade, biotechnological applications or natural stocks restoration efforts. This practice, which dates back to ancestral times, aroused great interest after the World War II as a potential large scale industry, due to the change in the economic conditions of the developed countries.
Traditional aquaculture is performed in several places around the World, especially in the East. In this type of aquaculture, fry or juveniles are captured, transferred to artificial ponds and, feed with agricultural byproducts. These aquacultures are not just a source of highly protein foods but also an important source of economic wealth for the communities in which they are settled. In other parts of the World, similar operations are used, with some modifications, for the production of mollusks, shrimps, seaweeds and other species of fish.
There are several types of aquaculture systems, classified according to the infrastructures and maintenance they require. Fish raised in floating cages, mussels and oysters grown in ropes or hanging baskets under rafts, in which the production conditions are similar to the environment conditions and human manipulation is minimal, are examples of semi-intensive aquaculture systems. Other kinds of systems, the intensive ones, are implemented for the production of highly valued species, by maximizing their growth through the nearly absolute control of the organisms and of the production conditions.
Aquaculture requires continuous researcher and development efforts and, despite being in constant evolution, it presents a few obstacles, such as: the high dependency of fish meals and fish oils, fisheries byproducts that are the main source of fatty acids and proteins for farmed fish diet formulation; nutritional requirements vary among the different stages of development of a species e, from species to species; high start-up and maintenance costs; parasites and diseases can dictate the collapse of entire operations; we possess the knowledge for the production of yet a little number species of aquatic organisms.
Despite all these challenges, aquaculture still stands as an important alternative for the supply of fish and other aquatic products due to the depletion of the majority of natural stocks.
References
Allen, P. J. and J. A. Steeby. (2011) Aquaculture: Challenges and Promise. Nature Education Knowledge. 3(10):12.
FAO. (2011). World aquaculture 2010. Technical Paper. No. 500/1. Rome. 105 pp.
FAO. (2014). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2014. Rome. 223 pp.
Rabanal, H. R. (1988). History of Aquaculture. ASEAN/UNDP/FAO Regional Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries Development Project. Manila, Philippines.
