1. What is aquaculture? Topic# 3071 By Rick Sokol

2. Aquaculture The controlled cultivation of aquatic plants
and animals produced for several purposes.
Food
Stocking
Bait
Ornamental
Industrial

3. Fish Farming one facet of aquaculture
Practiced for many centuries by:
Chinese
Egyptians
Romans
In this century, aquaculture has become an important supplier of fish and other products.

4. Asia most significant region in world for aquaculture
Over 80% of total world production.
Leading Producers
China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and the Philippines (carp & seaweed dominating production)
Use mixture of low and high levels of technology along with traditional techniques.

5. U.S. Aquaculture very small segment of total agricultural production
Relatively young and growing rapidly.
Although increasing in popularity, majority of fish eaten in U.S. are imported or are harvested by commercial fishermen from rivers, lakes and oceans.

6. Species farmed in the U.S.
Channel catfish
Salmon
Trout
Bait
Ornamental fish
Crawfish
Shrimp
Oysters
Clams
Other species such as tilapia, hybrid striped bass, red drum, alligators, white sturgeon and aquatic plants are also produced, but on a smaller scale.

7. Major Force pushing growth of U.S. aquaculture
Declining population of seafood species in the wild - USDA's 1994 Aquaculture Situation & Outlook Report
Other factors include:
Desire for year-round supplies
Specific quality
Specific appearance
These helped in the development of the domestic trout and catfish industries.
Wild harvest can’t supply enough fish for demand.

8. Present Day Aquaculture
Competitive to the wild harvest of seafood.
In the future, to become an integral part of the wild harvest fishing industry.
Allows management of wild resources to maintain long-term sustained harvests.
Management plans for controlled harvesting are being developed as species depletion grows. Hatchery-raised fish will be important part of management.

9. Changing Lifestyles of Consumer
Increasing consumption of fish products will contribute to aquaculture's future growth.
If consumers view seafood as protein, then, in the U.S. seafood consumption could increase, currently it is small portion of overall meat consumption.

10. Increase Production Efficiency increases sales
Reduce product prices
Relative costs of products drive gains and losses in consumption of meat products like beef, pork and poultry.
Major reason for rise in poultry consumption.

11. Feed Conversion
Fish convert feed into flesh about 2x more efficiently than chickens and 5-10x more than beef.
Feed conversion rates of fish are higher than other livestock:
fish use foods that are less usable by land animals
require less energy from their foods
fish use entire pond, while land animals are confined to the ground

12. Annual Yields
The proper combination of species, control of the environment and careful feeding results in yields of 6,250 lbs/acre.
Compared to 1,000 lbs/acre yield from beef.
The lure of increased production and high profits have accelerated the interest in aquaculture.

13. New Advances in Bioengineering
Aquaculture producers have methods that could radically change production processes.
Use of gene transfer from one species to another creating transgenic fish that are genetically distinct.

14. Transgenic Research Enhance growth rate
Increase tolerance to different water temperatures
Improve disease resistance
Long-term impact on the ecosystem is unknown. Scientists urge caution to prevent accidental release until more is known.

15. Outlook for Future
Fastest growing in U.S. agriculture, increasing over 20% annually in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Recent statistics from , the average annual growth/year of aquaculture worldwide was 9.6%, outdistancing poultry meat, which grew at 4.2% per year.

16. Consumer Awareness Nutritional value of fish products
Greater acceptance in expanded markets
Increased availability at competitive prices
Expected to increase per capita consumption dramatically in the next 10 to 20 years