Aquaculture

SIC 0182, 0273

NAICS 111411, 112511

Unlike fisheries, which capture wild fish from open waters, the global aquaculture industry cultivates plants and animals in freshwater and saltwater under a controlled environment in which producers can regulate reproduction, feeding, and climate.

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Aquaculture began in ancient China, Rome, and Egypt. Since the 1970s modern aquaculture as an industry flourished throughout the world, particularly in inland nations. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO), world aquacultural production has grown by an average of 8.9 percent annually since 1970, more than any other animal-food producing sectors. In the early 2000s, the aquaculture industry enjoyed substantial global output increases, in part due to increasing dependence on fish by residents of China and also in large part because fishery waters in many parts of the world reached the limits of exploitation. Long-term predictions by the FAO pointed to the aquaculture industry as a significant economic player in world markets as an employer and producer of revenue. Most of the overall increase in world fishery production through 2010, the FAO said, would come from the rapid growth of aquaculture.

The raising of aquatic plants such as seaweed and animals such as fish and crustacea, particularly shrimp, continued to be dominated by Asian enterprises, but aggressive development of aquaculture production by other areas, and China's marketing strategy to raise more higher-value fish (reducing the higher tonnage of lower-value fish) slightly reduced that continent's share of the world market. Asia continued to dominate world aquaculture, producing more than 91 percent of the world's aquaculture supplies in 2002. The dominant country by far was China, which in 2002 produced 71.2 percent of the world's volume of aquatic plants and aquaculture fish.

In spite of its rising importance in world markets, the aquaculture industry found itself coming under intense fire and scrutiny as environmental groups demanded stricter controls to protect wild fish species that could be lost due to intermingling with similar aquaculture species. In particular, the industry was being asked to demonstrate accountability as it increasingly cultivated genetically altered fish-food species with an extra gene, which greatly increased the length and size of fish in shorter and shorter time periods. Environmentalists stressed the need for fish producers to produce sterile, single-sex fish used for consumption purposes only. Such polyploid aquatic animals have more chromosome sets than sexually normal fish, making them unable to produce and thereby saving their energy for growing meatier. In addition, scientific research published in 2004 found significantly higher levels of dioxins, PCBs, and other environmental carcinogens in farm-raised salmon than were found in captured fish, leading some specialists to recommend limiting intake of contaminated fish. Others, though, believed the risk was overstated.

Nonetheless, a number of experts at the Kyoto Conference predicted in their formal presentations that aquaculture production would increase significantly in spite of protests by some commercial fisheries and environmentalists. In the year 2010, industry experts predicted, aquaculture production might harvest 47 tons of fish and seaweed, with about 33 million tons of fish and crustacea intended for food use.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE
Production Types and Methods

Aquaculture serves six primary functions: food, bait, aquarium stock, fee-fishing stock, biological supply, and lake stock. Food aquaculture was by far the leading form and included the fresh-water, brackish-water, and marine-water production of species such as catfish, shrimp, bass, trout, salmon, and tilapia. Characterized by many small operations, bait aquaculture raised minnows, suckers, goldfish, and crayfish for use as fishing bait. Limited mostly to warmer climates, aquarium aquaculture produced fresh-water and marine fish, such as guppies, gouramis, cichlids, clown fish, trigger fish, and goldfish, and plants used for aquariums. Featuring small, well-stocked ponds, fee-fishing aquaculture operations offered facilities primarily to sport fishers who paid to catch fish such as trout and catfish from stocked ponds or reservoirs. Some fee-fishing organizations functioned like hunting clubs, allowing members to fish freely with a membership, while others charged daily or hourly rates. Biological supply houses raised a host of aquatic organisms such as turtles, mollusks, and shrimp for research and educational purposes. Finally, lake-stocking aquaculture raised fish to replenish city and county lakes, and these operations produced bass, trout, walleye, and blue fish.

When raising fish and growing aquatic plants, producers must monitor the water quality constantly to ensure a successful harvest. Producers pay special attention to the water's temperature, since fish are cold blooded and their body temperatures conform to their environment. Different species of fish require different temperatures of water, yielding the classification of fish as cold water (which thrive in 48- to 60-degree water); cool water (which thrive in 55- to 75-degree water); and warm water (which thrive in 70- to 85-degree water). Other concerns are the water's alkaline (or acid) pH, ammonia contamination, and dissolved oxygen levels as well as its mineral content and other chemical characteristics such as chlorine if tap water is introduced. Suffocation of fish due to overcrowding or poor aeration, bacterial and parasitical infections, and diseases related to high quantities of fish excrement are problems that lead to unintended fish mortality and cause critics of the industry to call for reforms to institute more humane fish farming methods.

Producers use four general kinds of facilities for aquaculture: ponds, cages, raceways, and recirculating systems. Ponds include existing small bodies of water infused with aquaculture fish and plants as well as ponds specially designed for aquaculture. These can range in size from a quarter of an acre to over 20 acres. To take advantage of existing bodies of water, producers also use cages to raise fish. The cages contain the fish but allow water to pass through; they come in rectangular, square, and round varieties ranging from four to eight feet in width and height. Raceways function largely as facilities for raising trout, and producers position them on slightly sloped areas of land, allowing the water to run down the raceways. Water recirculating systems usually are indoor vats set up in a similar way to aquariums with a filtration and circulation system.

Industry analysts also distinguish between freshwater and marine aquaculture. In the mid-1990s, freshwater production dominated the industry, accounting for over 65 percent of the world's total...

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