Aquaculture: Difference between revisions

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==Problems==
==Problems==
===Pollution===
===Pollution===
Increased pollution along coast from concentration of aquaculture has become a large problem. As mentioned previously, this waste is concentrated fish fecal and is often concentrated near the fish pens. <ref name= Pomeroy>Pomeroy, Robert S., John E. Parks, and Cristina M. Balboa. "Farming the Reef: Is Aquaculture a Solution for Reducing Fishing Pressure on Coral Reefs?" Marine Policy 30.2 (2006): 111-30. Web.</ref> The waste can lead to excessive amounts of nitrogen and other elements that result in algae blooms, destroying many habitats.
Increased pollution along coast from concentration of aquaculture has become a large problem. <ref name= Pomeroy>Pomeroy, Robert S., John E. Parks, and Cristina M. Balboa. "Farming the Reef: Is Aquaculture a Solution for Reducing Fishing Pressure on Coral Reefs?" Marine Policy 30.2 (2006): 111-30. Web.</ref> As mentioned previously, this waste is concentrated fish fecal and is often concentrated near the fish pens. <ref name= Pomeroy>Pomeroy, Robert S., John E. Parks, and Cristina M. Balboa. "Farming the Reef: Is Aquaculture a Solution for Reducing Fishing Pressure on Coral Reefs?" Marine Policy 30.2 (2006): 111-30. Web.</ref> The waste can lead to excessive amounts of nitrogen and other elements that result in algae blooms, destroying many habitats.


===GMO Salmon===
===GMO Salmon===

Revision as of 14:41, 20 April 2016

Aquaculture and Mariculture

Seaweed Farm
Seaweed Farm

[1] Aquaculture is the process of hatching or harvesting and rearing of marine life for human consumption; this is broken down into extensive and intensive aquaculture. Aquaculture is being used for many reasons including deterring over-fishing, increasing profit, and allow for genetic modification of marine life. [2]

  • Extensive aquaculture does not require the addition of feed [2]. Examples of this includes shellfish and seaweed which filter feed or perform photosynthesis.
  • Intensive aquaculture requires the addition of feed [2]. Examples of this includes herbivore, omnivore or carnivorous marine life such as salmon or shrimp.

Types of aquaculture

International aquaculture can be broken down into the following three categories:

  • One fourth of aquaculture is bivalves which includes clams, mussels and scallops. [3] This aquaculture is for food.
  • One fourth of aquaculture is seaweed and algae. [3] This aquacutlute is largely produced for chemicals to be used in health products and body products. [3] Some are raised for food.
  • Half of aquaculture is fish and other marine life. [3] Salmon is the largest market value produced within aquaculture and thus is a large segment of production. [3] Other aquaculture that fall in this category are shrimp, crustaceans and other fish including Caribbean fish.

Methods of Aquaculture[4]

There is a large variety of aquaculture due to the large variety of creatures and plants in aquaculture. Each method varies in their environmental harm as well. Two colloquial terms often used in aquaculture are ranching and farming. These two terms do not have definitions that are thoroughly defined but are often used in discussion with the distinction being that in fish ranching involves having the fish hatch and grow in one area and then releasing the fish and recapturing them when they return to spawn, this is common with salmon. Farming involves hatching, growth and harvesting in one area.

Beginning with filter feeders is the method of bag rack where bags are secured to racks to the bottom of the seabed with clams or other filter feeders, and grown until harvest. They are typically raised in shallow areas. Another common method to filter feeders is suspended line in which clams or seaweed grow off of suspended lines that hang in the water. These method generally has low environmental impact since the creatures are filter feeders and do not require inputs but if they are raised in still water then waste can become concentrated. Furthermore, introduction of invasive species can also commonly occur. bag-rack-fishing-gear.png

Hatcheries are used for sea creatures, commonly fish, and occur in large tanks where fish are raised from eggs within the tanks. The fish are either then collected from the hatchery or are released to be caught. The fish are often weaker than the wild species since they were grown in such sterilized areas free of competition and thus there is concern that hatched fish breeding with wild fish depletes the strength of the wild fish population.

Open Net Pens are used in standing water and are pens that are often in still standing water where fished are raised to be caught. They are held in tightly confined areas commonly so waste concentration and disease are very significant issues. Also similar to hatcheries there is a fear of these populations depleting the strength of wild populations. Furthermore, the waste created from this method can result in harm to many other life forms in the body of water they are raised in.

Last is recirculating pens which are largely preliminary at this point but are being celebrated for reduction in environmental impacts since they constantly move water and are located in created structures as opposed to standing bodies of water.

Potential Mitigation of Over-fishing

Over-fishing externalities can be grouped into three main categories. Though there can exist other specific impacts, the main three cover the most common and most drastic results of this practice.[5]

  • Overfishing causes the destruction of the ecosystem in and around the coral reef.
  • The collection of herbivorous fish and creatures -due to overfishing- can lead to excess algae. This excess algae creates a major imbalance in that ecosystem, potentially destroying the habitat of many other organisms.
  • The fishing techniques used in fishing can destroy coral. In the case of over-fishing, these harmful fishing techniques and their impacts are multiplied to a greater impact.

There additionally exist various aspects to the over-fishing crisis that relate directly to aquaculture.

  • It is predicted that by 2030 50% of fish consumption could be from aquaculture [6]
    • Rate of replenishment needs to be sustainable for the ecosystem that the juveniles are collected from in order to obtain a balanced ecosystem. [7]
    • Most other aquaculture techniques use fish hatcheries, eliminating the use of juvenile collection altogether.
      • Urban aquaculture is entirely dependent on this aspect as well, and there currently exist big city-aquaculture that provides fish and other aquaculture products in areas such as New York City. [8]
      • This aquaculture technique has additionally led to poverty reduction for those who perform aquaculture in Bangladesh, helping boost the local economy and improve overall health. [9]

Impacts on Coral

  • Coral reefs are used to provide an ecosystem for aquaculture farming. [10]
  • Aquaculture contribute to algae blooms, due to the resulting waste, which provides more nutrients for algae. [11]
  • Aquaculture on Costal Reefs and Related Problems
    • Cage Culture [2]
    • Restocking and Reseeding[2]
    • Artificial Habitat Development[2]
  • Live reef products are also a common aquaculture market; though this is much less in demand as the food-oriented aquaculture. [7]

Problems

Pollution

Increased pollution along coast from concentration of aquaculture has become a large problem. [7] As mentioned previously, this waste is concentrated fish fecal and is often concentrated near the fish pens. [7] The waste can lead to excessive amounts of nitrogen and other elements that result in algae blooms, destroying many habitats.

GMO Salmon

  • AquaBoutny Technologies has created a GMO salmon that grows twice as fast as normal salmon and twice as large [12]
    • regulation issues
    • fear of its escape into the wild

Notes

  1. Broadbent, Adam. Seaweed Farming in Halmahera, Indonesia. Web. 19 Apr. 2016. Web.http://www.scubazoo.com/updates/blog/seaweed-farming-in-halmahera-indonesia/
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. "Aquaculture Within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park." Marine Pollution Bulletin 7.12 (2002): 10. Australian Government, 11 Apr. 2002. Web. 1 Apr. 2016. Web.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lucas, John. "aquaculture." Current biology : CB 25.22 (2015): R1064-5. Web.
  4. "Fishing and Farming Methods" Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch. Web. http://www.seafoodwatch.org/ocean-issues/fishing-and-farming-methods
  5. Daw, T.; Adger, W.N.; Brown, K.; Badjeck, M.-C. 2009. "Climate change and capture fisheries: potential impacts, adaptation and mitigation." Climate change implications for fisheries and aquaculture: overview of current scientific knowledge. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper. No. 530. Rome, FAO. (2009): 107-150. Web.
  6. Muir, James. "Managing to Harvest? Perspectives on the Potential of Aquaculture." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 360.1453 (2005): 191-218. Web.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Pomeroy, Robert S., John E. Parks, and Cristina M. Balboa. "Farming the Reef: Is Aquaculture a Solution for Reducing Fishing Pressure on Coral Reefs?" Marine Policy 30.2 (2006): 111-30. Web.
  8. Urban fish farms a wave of the future?; A new york educator says big- city aquaculture can ease overfishing, add jobs and improve diets. (2006, Aug 14). Los Angeles Times
  9. e-Jahan, Khondker Murshed, Mahfuzuddin Ahmed, and Ben Belton. "The Impacts of Aquaculture Development on Food Security: Lessons from Bangladesh." Aquaculture Research 41.4 (2010): 481-95. Web.
  10. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Fisheries." NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program. US Department of Commerce, 13 July 2015. Web. 01 Mar. 2016. Web.
  11. "Impact of Fish Aquaculture Effluent on Reef-Associated Microbial Communities & Coral Health." Fish Effluent Impact on Reef Microbes & Coral Health. Coral Reef Target Research & Capacity Building for Management, 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2016. Web.
  12. Rack, Jessie. "Genetically Modified Salmon: Coming To a River Near You?" NPR The Salt (2015): Web
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