Skip to main content icon/video/no-internet
icon backReturn to Entries

Marine Aquaculture

Marine aquaculture refers to the farming of aquatic organisms in coastal or offshore marine environments, involving controlled interventions to increase production by specific groups claiming ownership of the cultivated stock. Marine aquaculture involves the farming of a high diversity of aquatic organisms, including mollusks, crustaceans, fish, and aquatic plants, amounting to 240 reported species in 2004, cultivated in diverse environments (brackish and marine areas), with different technologies (cages, ponds) and a wide spectrum of production systems operated by distinct groups (individuals, cooperatives, corporations) in several regions of the world.

Production and Distribution

Marine aquaculture has been practiced for millennia, especially in Asian cultures, but it has grown exponentially since the 1980s in response to a widespread decline of the world's fisheries and increased consumption of aquatic species by the developed nations. Aquaculture growth exceeds that of all other animal-food-producing sectors, at a rate of 8.8% per year since 1970 as opposed to 1.2% for capture fisheries and 2.8% for terrestrial meat production systems, but shows signs of leveling off, although high growth rates remain for some regions and species. Although most aquaculture production of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks is derived from freshwater environments representing 56.6% by quantity and 50.1% by value of aquaculture production aggregated, marine aquaculture production is significant and was reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to be 35.07 million metric tons in 2006, with an overall value of US$44.8 billion, including all aquatic organisms and geographical zones. Of the world total, China accounts for 67.6% of the total quantity and 39.9% of the total value of marine aquaculture, thus dominating the marine aquaculture industry.

Much of the marine production consists of high-end finfish as well as relatively low-priced mussels and oysters, while brackish-water production is dominated by high-value crustaceans and finfish. The high diversity of aquaculture production is illustrated by the variety of species farmed. Aquatic plants and mollusks show the greatest rate of growth since the early 2000s, while mollusks and crustaceans show the greatest increase in value. Diadromous fish also show a stark increase since 2004. While these numbers illustrate the emergent trends in marine aquaculture, they also reflect the efforts by countries to improve their reporting systems. Geographically, marine aquaculture production and value is clearly dominated by Asia, followed by Europe and the Americas, while Africa and Oceania remain marginal.

Balancing economic Growth with environmental and Social Sustainability

Proponents of marine aquaculture argue that the industry provides an alternative to declining fisheries, enhancing the food security of local populations while providing employment and attracting economic investments in the host countries, often developing nations. China is the country with the highest number of fish farmers (4.5 million) in 2004. Other countries with a high number of fishers and fish farmers include India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Employment in fisheries and aquaculture has been growing in low- and middle-income countries and declining or stagnating in the industrialized states. Most of the production of marine aquaculture comes from low- to middle-income nations. Marine aquaculture plays an important role in providing cash income and investments to developing countries and contributes importantly to the national economies of many developing states. Latin American and Asian states are particularly dependent on marine aquaculture, with Chile having more than 9% of its gross domestic product derived solely from marine aquaculture (not counting freshwater aquaculture).

...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles

Read next

More like this

Sage Recommends

We found other relevant content for you on other Sage platforms.

close

Have you created a personal profile? Login or create a profile so that you can save clips, playlists and searches

close
close
close Signed In to profile You are signed in as:
close
Logged in Institution Institution