Aquaculture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Aquaculture - Essay Example In recent years, cultivated aqua plants have shown significant increase in production too. The gross production of aqua plants in 2004 was worth 6.8 billion US$. Oysters hold the second position when it comes to aquatic culture. The aquatic species variegation is another factor that demands attention. More than 240 cultivated aquatic flora and animal species were recorded in 2004. The fact that needs exposure here is that heterogeneity of aquatic species has been undermined and collection of annual facts and data suggest that species variegation is shooting up. Species introduction is one of the legitimate means of increasing production. Species Introduction has played a significant role in aquaculture and they provide a noticeable share of total aquaculture production. Consider the fact that nearly 17% of the global finfish production is because of alien/introduced species. However they have negative impacts too. Introduced species can impact aquatic ecosystem in terms of predation, habitat modification etc. Proper assessment of effects of introduced species on aquatic life and their negative and positive consequences should be done and suitable plans should be formulated. Fishery products comprises of water, proteins, lipids, minerals, vitamins and other nitrogen compounds. The vital micro-nutrients and minerals in fatty fish are Vitamins A and D, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus whereas iodine, in marine fish. Fish lipids have up to 40% extremely unsaturated long chain fatty acids. Fish proteins hold all vital amino acids. The carbohydrate content in fish muscle is very less, generally lesser than 0.5 percent. There are numerous uses of marine resources; the most prominent use is as a source of food. Fisheries resources are rendering human species with record amounts of food. Fish has proved to be a diet full of proteins and nutrients. World fish production used for direct human intake shot up during 1990s. Other use of fish include 'extracting oil' and as 'feed'. However, excessive use of fisheries resources is endangering the ecosystem of our planet. Continuously increasing demand and exhausting marine life has led to an increment in the gap between demand and supply. As Taras Grescoe states in Bottomfeeder: How the fish on our Plates is Killing our Planet that Good fish like sardine, pilchard is diminishing and that we in our madness are hoovering up the good fish by converting it into fishmeal for salmon in farms. He concludes that it requires 3.9 Kg of wild fish to yield 1 Kg of flabby, artificially colored farmed salmon. Commercial wild salmon fishery has nearly vanished in North At lantic. The North Sea store of herring, valuable fatty pelagic fish, tumbled in 1970s because of the requirement of the pig feed industry. It can be concluded that overfishing is a compelling marine issue demanding immediate attention. According to EUCC news, China is a country where live reef fish requirement is quite high and is expected to increase in the coming years. Hong-Kong being the capital of world's live reef fish industry exports a lot of reef fish to China. China's increasing demands for coral fish has already endangered species like hump head wrasse. As marine stock has already depleted in