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What is Aquaculture?

Since seventy percent of the world’s surface is covered in water, humans


have realized its importance as a resource. For this reason, one of the areas
heavily exploited regarding the use of water as a resource is aquaculture,
especially in the production of food as opposed to using the terrestrial land.

Aquaculture is the process of rearing, breeding and harvesting of aquatic


species, both animals and plants, in controlled aquatic environments like
the oceans, lakes, rivers, ponds and streams. It serves different purposes,
including food production, restoration of threatened and endangered
species populations, wild stock population enhancement, the building of
aquariums, and fish cultures and habitat restoration. Here are the various
types of aquaculture, as well as their importance.

Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as


aquafarming, is the farming of fish, crustaceans, molluscs, aquatic plants,
algae, and other organisms.

Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations


under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial
fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. Mariculture refers to
aquaculture practiced in marine environments and in underwater habitats.”

1.1.2 Objectives of aquaculture

• Production of low cost protein rich, nutritive, palatable and easily


digestible human food.
• Providing new species and strengthening stocks of existing fish in
natural and man-made water-bodies through artificial recruitment
• Production of ornamental fish for aesthetic appeal.
• Effective utilization of aquatic and land resource
• Recycling of organic waste of human and livestock origin
• Providing means of livelihood through commercial and industrial
aquaculture.
• Production of sportfish and support to recreational fishing.
• Production of bait-fish for commercial and sport fishery.
In aquaculture, there are three categories of waters, viz. fresh, salt and
brackish. Fresh waters, generally abounding in the inland areas of a
country, and the salt water of the seas and oceans, are characteristed by a
wide difference in their salinities ranging from nil in the fresh water to
nearly 35 ppt in the seas and ocean. The salt content of fresh and sea water
exercises a very selective influence on the fauna and flora that live in each
type of water. As far as finfish and shellfish are concerned, the normal
residents of each type of water are said to be stenohaline, i.e. they can
withstand only a narrow variation in the salinities of their surrounding
medium.

A. Requisites for suitability of a fish species to farming


requirements for fish cultivation, which may be listed as follows:
1. a high growth rate so that the fish attains full size in a short time,
2. a large body size, preferably with small head and high trunk and low
bone-to-flesh ratio,
3. herbivorous, plankton-feeder, microphagous, or a detritus feeder, i.e.
with a short food chain,
4. assurance of supporting a dense population throughout life i.e. a
social and gregarious fish,
5. possibility of accepting and growing on artificial food as well as on
natural food,
6. tolerance to other culturable fishes to permit mixed farming
(polyculture),
7. assurance of an easy and regular supply of fish seed, i.e. the fish
should reproduce in captivity or respond to induced breeding methods,
8. a fish that is hardy to withstand handling and transportation,
9. a fish that is resistant to disease, (x) a fish of high food value, and
10. a fish that suits the taste of the consumer
I.Type of Aquaculture
Three important considerations are giver below :
Fish culture practices may be classified into three different kinds on
economic and commercial consideration, depending upon the motive of
farming :
• extensive,
• intensive
• and semi-intensive.
1. Extensive fish culture is the least managed fish farming.
Although the pond may be large, little care is taken with regard to its
improvement.
A modest yield, raised on the natural food, nothing more than the
natural production, is obtained.
2. Intensive fish culture on the other hand is one in which an all-out
attempt is made to achieve maximum production of fish from a
minimum quantity of water.
It is best managed form of fish farming, in which fish are fed on
artificial food and the pond is improved by use of fertilizers.
In such a case the small size of the pond notwithstanding, the production
of fish is very high (over 6000 kg,/ha/year) and of high quality fish.
Although the cost of investments is also high, the return from the yield
far exceeds it to ensure a great profit in the trade.
3. Semi-intensive fish culture is anything between the first two kinds.
II. Fish culture practices may be classified into six basic categories,
each with its own characteristics, depending on the nature of the waster
mass used and the manner of farming :
1.Pond fish culture: In this case, the water-mass consists of natural or
artificially erected freshwater ponds. It is the commonest of all methods.
2. Culture in man-made reservoirs: Freshwater mass held back by the
dam on rivers is used. culture
3. Paddy-cum-fish: In this case, the paddy- fields that are inundated
with water are used for cultivation of fish.
4. Brackish water fish culture: Open or embanked estuaries with
waters of varying salinities, afford low lying, shallow fields under water
for fish raising.
5. Coastal fish culture (mariculture): Marine species of fish are
cultivated in marine coastal waters alone.
(vi) Salt pan culture: In off-seasons of salt manufacture, the salt pans
are utilized for fish culture.
III. Classification of fish culture practices based on special
operational techniques is as follows
1. Cage culture: Here the fish to be cultured are held in a section of
water of a flowing river by being imprisoned in a cage of metal or
bamboo structure, supporting wire, nylon or splitbamboo mesh mats. It
is rather recent practice but with great promise.
2. Pen culture: This is simply an enclosure, often along banks and
shores, of some device which utilizes the bank or the shore line as one
of its sides. Fishes are then raised in this enclosure.
IV. There is yet another way of classification based on the number
of species cultivated at a time.
Following three types are distinguished:
1. Monoculture: In this case fish farming in a certain water body is
confined to a single species.
2. Mono-sex culture: In this case, only one sex, either the male or the
female, of a single species is cultivated in a water body.
B. 3. Polyculture: In this case, more than one species is raised
simultaneously in the same water body.
V. Fish culture practices may also be classified on considerations of
climatic factors
1. Warm-water culture: This concerns water masses of the tropics and
plains.
2. Cold-water culture: This involves culture practices conducted in
springs, pools or lakes of hills and high altitudes

• Growing plants like seaweed are also part of mariculture. These sea
plant and animal species find many uses in manufacturing industries
such as in cosmetics and jewelry where collagen from seaweed is
used to make facial creams. Pearls are picked from molluscs and
made into fashion items.

• 2. Fish Farming

• Fish farming is the most common type of aquaculture. It involves


the selective breeding of fish, either in freshwater or seawater, with
the purpose of producing a food source for consumption. Fish
farming is highly exploited as it allows for the production of a cheap
source of protein.

• Furthermore, fish farming is easier to do than other kinds of farming


as fish are not care-intensive, but only requiring food and proper
water conditions as well as temperatures. The process is also less
land-intensive as the size of ponds required to grow some fish
species such as tilapia is much smaller than the space required to
grow the same amount of protein from beef cattle.

• 3. Algaculture

• Algaculture is a type of aquaculture involving the cultivation of


algae. Algae are microbial organisms that share animal and plant
characteristics. They are sometimes motile like other microbes, but
they also contain chloroplasts that make them green and allow them
to photosynthesize just like green plants.

• However, for economic feasibility, they have to be grown and


harvested in large numbers. Algae are finding many applications in
today’s markets. Exxon mobile has been making strides in
developing them as a new source of energy.

• 4. Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture(IMTA)

• IMTA is an advanced system of aquaculture where different trophic


levels are mixed into the system to provide different nutritional needs
for each other. Notably, it is an efficient system because it tries to
emulate the ecological system that exists in the natural habitat.
• The IMTA makes use of these intertropical transfer of resources to
ensure maximum resource utilization by using the waste of larger
organisms as food sources for the smaller ones. The practice ensures
the nutrients are recycled, meaning the process is less wasteful and
produces more products.

5. Inland Pond Culture

This usually involves inland artificial ponds of about 20 acres in size and
about 6-8ft deep. It is common to see aeration systems connected to the
pond, to introduce air into the ponds. This enhances the supply of oxygen
and also reduces ice formation in the winter season.

In China, over 75% of the farmed freshwater fish are produced in


constructed ponds, and nearly all of the farmed catfish are raised in ponds
in the U.S.

RECIRCULATING AQUACULTURE SYSTEM

WHAT IS A RECIRCULATING AQUACULTURE SYSTEM?


In a recirculating aquaculture system the culture water is purified and
reused continuously.

A recirculating aquaculture system is an almost completely closed circuit.


The produced waste products; solid waste, ammonium and CO2, are either
removed or converted into non-toxic products by the system components.
The purified water is subsequently saturated with oxygen and returned to
the fish tanks.

ADVANTAGES OF RECIRCULATING AQUACULTURE


SYSTEM
The advantages of farming in RAS are:

• Fully controlled environment for the fish


• Low water use
• Efficient energy use
• Efficient land use
• Optimal feeding strategy
• Easy grading and harvesting of fish
• Full disease control
CONSTRAINS OF RECIRCULATING AQUACULTURE
SYSTEMS
To allow the use of RAS grow outs, there are a few constraints in respect
of infrastructure, feeds and staff:

• Necessity for electricity 24/7


• Good water source, preferably borehole
• Good fish feed quality, preferably high protein and
fat extruded diets with high digestibility
• Technically skilled staff able to work in a medium
tech environment

Recirculating Aquaculture System grow outs are the best option for
locations close to or in cities, with good availability of electricity. Next to
this, using RAS technology is the only possibility for farming tropical fish
species in moderate to cold climates indoor.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF A RECIRCULATING AQUACULTURE


SYSTEM
A basic Recirculating system consists of the following components:

• Fish tank
• Mechanical Filter
• Biologicial Filter
• Pump tank
• Pump
• Other items (e.g. UV-C light, oxgenation devices,
aeration devices, feeders, monitoring, etc.)

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