Aquaculture

Aquaculture is one of the world’s fastest-growing food production sectors. It occurs at a wide range of different production scales, from small family-owned farms to large-scale commercial operations, and encompasses the culture of a wide range of marine species including fish, shellfish, crustaceans, echinoderms, sea cucumbers and seaweed. All over the world, aquaculture is being viewed as an essential part of the solution to address the food security concerns associated with increased population. In addition to the key role in food security and sustainability, certain aquaculture techniques are also being trialled as a way to restore degraded ecosystems. However, despite this importance, aquaculture development is hindered by many factors, such as the impacts of intensive aquaculture on the marine environment, extreme short and long term changes to the marine climate and extreme challenges as aquaculture production moves into new regions, often offshore.