Aquaculture and ocean resources: raising tigers of the sea

Abstract

With continued human pressure on marine fisheries and ocean resources, aquaculture has become one of the most promising avenues for increasing marine fish production in the future. This review presents recent trends and future prospects for the aquaculture industry, with particular attention paid to ocean farming and carnivorous finfish species. The benefits of farming carnivorous fish have been challenged; extensive research on salmon has shown that farming such fish can have negative ecological, social, and health impacts on areas and parties vastly separated in space. Similar research is only beginning for the new carnivorous species farmed or ranched in marine environments, such as cod, halibut, and bluefin tuna. These fish have large market potential and are likely to play a defining role in the future direction of the aquaculture industry. We review the available literature on aquaculture development of carnivorous finfish species and assess its potential to relieve human pressure on marine fisheries, many of which have experienced sharp declines.