Aquaculture

Aquaculture

  * Advantages and Disadvantages of Aquaculture:

The creation of jobs is important to the health of our economy and society and the maintenance of our standard of living. Aquaculture has the potential to provide those fishermen put out of work as well as new recruits with a job in aquaculture. The growth in the aquaculture industry has lead to decreased price per pound for numerous popular fish, making it easier and cheaper for many people. A growing aquaculture sector has the potential to decrease the pressure on wild fish stocks, provided that market demand for farmed fish is as great as the demand for wild fish. However, fisheries economics and policies have implications for the ability of aquaculture to replace or provide an alternative to wild catches. Where there are high fixed costs in the fishing fleet, inelastic supplies of labor or continued government subsidies to the industry, aquaculture may have less influence on fishing effort and capture rates of wild fish.

The impact of aquaculture facilities and infrastructure may affect the local fauna and flora negatively, including threatened species. The effluents from aquaculture farms containing undesired chemicals and therapeutants might distress the local ecosystem. Farm escaped organisms can also have an impact. The use of exotic species in aquaculture is even more important, as they bring some risks such as the introduction of associated forms of life that come together with them (e.g. algae or microorganisms) or new pathogen agents that can spread out to a new environment.

  * Types of Aquaculture:

  * Site selection:

Choosing the right site ranks second after identifying markets for the product.  Locating land that needs is usually less costly than trying to make a readily available site fit the requirements later. Aquaculture requires large volumes of good quality water. Water must be of high quality and free of pollutants, sewage and toxic contaminants.  Generally,...