Aquaculture: global status and trends

Abstract

Aquaculture contributed 43 per cent of aquatic animal food for human consumption in 2007 (e.g. fish, crustaceans and molluscs, but excluding mammals, reptiles and aquatic plants) and is expected to grow further to meet the future demand. It is very diverse and, contrary to many perceptions, dominated by shellfish and herbivorous and omnivorous pond fish either entirely or partly utilizing natural productivity. The rapid growth in the production of carnivorous species such as salmon, shrimp and catfish has been driven by globalizing trade and favourable economics of larger scale intensive farming. Most aquaculture systems rely on low/uncosted environmental goods and services, so a critical issue for the future is whether these are brought into company accounts and the consequent effects this would have on production economics. Failing that, increased competition for natural resources will force governments to allocate strategically or leave the market to determine their use depending on activities that can extract the highest value. Further uncertainties include the impact of climate change, future fisheries supplies (for competition and feed supply), practical limits in terms of scale and in the economics of integration and the development and acceptability of new bio-engineering technologies. In the medium term, increased output is likely to require expansion in new environments, further intensification and efficiency gains for more sustainable and cost-effective production. The trend towards enhanced intensive systems with key monocultures remains strong and, at least for the foreseeable future, will be a significant contributor to future supplies. Dependence on external feeds (including fish), water and energy are key issues. Some new species will enter production and policies that support the reduction of resource footprints and improve integration could lead to new developments as well as reversing decline in some more traditional systems.

Figure 1.

Global aquaculture production by region. Source: FAO (2010). (a) Aquaculture by quantity 2008 (excluding aquatic plants). (b) Aquaculture by value 2008 (excluding aquatic plants). Dark blue, Africa; brown, Americas; light green, Asia; violet, Europe; light blue, Oceania.

Figure 2.

Average annual growth rate of all aquaculture production in terms of quantity over a 5-year period. Calculated using the difference between mean values from the periods 2000–2002 and 2005–2007. Red, greater than −10%; orange, −3 to −10%; rose, 0 to −3%; violet, 0–3%; light blue, 3–10%; dark blue, greater than 10%. Source: FAO (2009b).

Figure 3.

Average annual growth rate of all aquaculture production in terms of value over a 5-year period. Calculated using the difference between mean values from the periods 2000–2002 and 2005–2007. Red, greater than −10%; orange, −3 to −10%; rose, 0 to −3%; violet, 0–3%; light blue, 3–10%; dark blue, greater than 10%. Source: FAO (2009b).

Figure 4.

Aquaculture production by output and value for major species groups in 2008. Source: FAO (2010), excluding aquatic plants. (a) Aquaculture by output 2008 (excluding aquatic plants). (b) Aquaculture by value 2008 (excluding plants).

Figure 5.

Mean aquaculture production from freshwater systems as a function of land area (kg km⁻² yr⁻¹) for the period 2005–2007. Dark green, 0–50 kg km⁻²; light green, 50–100 kg km⁻²; yellow, 100–250 kg km⁻²; light orange, 250–500 kg km⁻²; dark orange, 500–1000 kg km⁻²; red, 1000–3000 kg km⁻²; maroon, greater than 3000 kg km⁻². Source: FAO (2009b).

Figure 6.

Total world production for culture of brackish-water species (blue) and for penaied shrimp (red). Source FAO (2010).

Figure 7.

Development of production volume of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout in Norway and number of employees (blue), illustrating trends in industrialization of production (red) systems. Source: Fiskeridirektoratet (2008).

Figure 8.

Mean production quantities from coastal aquaculture systems as function of coastline length (kg km⁻¹ yr⁻¹) for the period 2005–2007. Dark green, less than 10 kg km⁻¹ yr⁻¹; light green, 10–25 kg km⁻¹ yr⁻¹; yellow, 25–50 kg km⁻¹ yr⁻¹; light orange, 50–100 kg km⁻¹ yr⁻¹; dark orange, 100–250 kg km⁻¹ yr⁻¹; red, 250–500 kg km⁻¹ yr⁻¹; maroon, greater than 500 kg km⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Source: FAO (2009b).

Figure 9.

Estimated global compound aquafeed production in 2008 for major farmed species (as percentage of total aquafeed production, dry feed basis. Source: Tacon & Metian (in preparation).

Figure 10.

Estimated use of fish meal (percentage of dry feed basis) within aquafeeds in 2008. Blue, Tacon estimate 2008; red, IFFO estimate 2007. Sources: Tacon & Metian (in preparation); IFFO (2008).

Figure 11.

Estimated global use of fish oil (percentage of dry feed basis) in 2008. Blue, Tacon 2008; red, IFFO 2007. Sources: Tacon & Metian (in preparation); IFFO (2008).

Figure 12.

Estimated global use of fish meal and oil by the salmon farming industry projected to 2020. Blue, total feeds used; red, mean % fish meal; green, mean % fish oil. Source: Tacon & Metian (in preparation).