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Aquaculture has shown rapid expansion in recent
years, equivalent to growth year on year close to
10% since the late 1980s. In comparison, livestock
meat production has been growing at around 3% per
year over the same period and the output from
capture fisheries has actually fallen.
In 1998, total world production of finfish,
crustaceans (shrimps, prawns, crabs etc.), and
molluscs (e.g. clams, oysters, mussels), from
capture fisheries and aquaculture reached 117.2
million mt. A quarter of the fish eaten in the
world now comes from aquaculture. The inclusion of
aquatic plants raises total production by a further
9.6 million mt to 126.8 million mt, an overall
increase of 19.9 million mt in the 10 years since
1989.
While total production from the capture
fisheries sector had fallen 3.4% during that 10
year period, the supply from aquaculture had more
than doubled, from 16.5 million mt in 1989 to a
total of 39.4 million mt in 1998. 4.4 million mt of
this increase was of aquatic plants.
Aquaculture by 1998 was providing 31% of total
fisheries supply, compared to only 15% in 1989. The
total value of aquaculture production reached US$
52.5 billion in 1998 - double the figure of a
decade earlier - and much of this increase
originated from the Low Income Food Deficit
Countries (LIFDCs), in particular China. This
reflects the continuing trend in LIFDC countries of
increased use of aquatic resources to further
diversify food production.
Regional Growth of Aquaculture
Regional, cultural and historic factors have
played major roles in influencing both the size of
the production base and the rate of expansion of
aquaculture in different parts of the world. An
historic tradition of growing fish in Asia has
provided the background for the region's dominant
role in the sector in modern times. Asia accounted
for over 90% of world aquaculture output in the
late 1990s, regional production having increased
from 14.3 million mt to over 35.8 million mt
between 1989 and 1998, equivalent to growth of
nearly 11% per year. Much of this expansion was in
China where the year on year increase was around
15%. In the rest of Asia, growth has been closer to
3% per year, similar to that in Europe and North
America (3 - 4%). In Africa and Latin America the
aquaculture production base a decade ago was
considerably smaller and so there has been added
potential for higher rates of expansion.
Aquaculture output in Africa has been growing at
around 8% per year, while the boom of shrimp and
tilapia fish farming in Latin America enabled
growth to average 18% per year during the
1990s.
Global Outlook
As world population continues to expand, with
current projections being for an increase from 6
billion people in the year 2000 to 9-10 billion by
2050, fisheries products are one of the many food
groups that will come under increasing pressure.
Just about all the world's natural fisheries
resources are fully exploited (many being already
over exploited), and the challenge for aquaculture
is to expand to meet the future shortfall in fish
supplies. A key way forward has been demonstrated
over the last decade in China, where a substantial
expansion of production has been grounded on
small-scale pond culture. Similar growth in other
countries could help alleviate poverty and improve
the livelihoods and food security of the poor.
Although aquaculture has been practised for many
centuries, its expansion and intensification is a
modern phenomenon. It is important that, as the
industry expands to meet future needs, it does so
in an environmentally positive way. This is easier
with the production of herbivores than with
carnivores. The major potential to meet future
human food demand is with herbivorous and
omnivorous fish like carps and tilapias, and
expansion of this sector needs to be nurtured. Not
only are fish such as carps suited to the regions
where food for the human population is likely to
come under the greatest pressure, but they also can
be fitted more readily into a nutrient recycling
scheme. Their production additionally avoids the
question we have to face with the farming of
carnivorous fish: whether it makes sense to use
fish (processed into meal) as a key feed ingredient
for the fish we are growing for human consumption.
In fact the aquaculture sectors using fish protein
- the farming of shrimp in ponds and of sea fish in
coastal cages - represent less than 10% of total
world aquaculture production. Worldwide, most
fishmeal is used in the production of pigs and
chickens. However, the production of species like
shrimp, salmon and bream and so their demand for
fishmeal, is likely to continue growing because of
their commercial profitability.
Fish farming can provide livelihoods, not only
for small-scale farmers, but also through larger
scale commercial operations. When properly balanced
with social and environmental needs, commercial
aquaculture can bring benefits of poverty reduction
and hunger elimination to the disadvantaged,
through the generation of employment and
stimulation of the economy. The commercial sector
is also better placed to bring about technical
innovation, reduce operating costs and grow
products acceptable to a wider range of
consumers.
The challenge for aquaculture in the new
millennium is to expand sustainable aquaculture to
achieve enhanced food security and economic
development for the world's people. There is every
prospect that this can be realised if the
mechanisms can be found to improve support to
existing producers, spread successful methods to
new regions, and boost the regional and
international transfer of information and
technology.
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