It is observed that aquaculture can help spur the recovery of natural populations of fish and other aquatic species – and provide much-needed food and income, especially for small-scale farmers in developing countries. Jim Diana, a professor of natural resources at the University of Michigan, said that Asia continues to dominate the farming of fish and other aquatic species, accounting for approximately 92 percent of the world harvest.
Diana informed that aquaculture’s probably producing about 50 percent of the fish that are eaten, because a lot of capture fisheries don’t go into human consumption. She also told that there are environmental impacts associated with some kinds of aquaculture. He describes them in a review in the January issue of the journal BioScience.
Diana stressed that when practiced sustainably, aquaculture can benefit the environment by reducing pressure from commercial fishing and even helping to rebuild wild populations. Don Webster, an extension specialist at the University of Maryland, told that when he first started working in the Maryland, there were probably several thousand watermen harvesting oysters in the Chesapeake Bay.
According to Webster aquaculture is a way to bring the oysters back. In addition to these protected sanctuaries, says Webster, there are also managed reserves, where diseased oysters are removed and replaced with disease-free hatchery seed. The oysters are allowed to grow until 60 percent of them are at least 10 centimeters long. Once the oysters have reached adult size, the reserves are opened up for harvest, supporting the commercial fishery.
