Aquaculture

Welcome to the Aqua Culture section of business.com.au, where you can find all that you need to know about aquaculture.
Aquaculture, the rearing of aquatic animals and cultivating aquatic plants for food, is a rapidly expanding industry and is significant in its contribution to regional development in Australia. By 2030, the CSIRO believes that more than half Australia's seafood will be farmed and it is currently researching to help realise the potential of Australian aquaculture.
Unlike fishing, aquaculture involves cultivating aquatic populations under controlled conditions such as freshwater and saltwater organisms such as crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants.
Areas of aquaculture research by the CSIRO include:

• Atlantic salmon
• Pacific oysters
• Prawns
• Abalone

The Aquaculture industry is also researching to detect and diagnose disease, researching selective breeding for disease resistance, as well as vaccine development.
There are different types of aquaculture such as algaculture, which is the production of kelp/seaweed, shrimp farming, fish farming, growing cultured pearls and oyster farming.
It is important to be aware of the fact that aquaculture can often lead to higher than normal levels of fish waste in the water. Fish waste is made from nutrients necessary in all components of aquatic food webs. When there is increased fish waste, the environment can be affected as it decreases dissolved oxygen levels in the water column. This can be counteracted by using techniques to reduce or eliminate the negative environmental effects of fish waste. These include:

• onshore recirculating aquaculture systems
• properly-sited facilities (such as offshore areas with strong currents)
• facilities using polyculture techniques (polyculture being agriculture that uses multiple crops in the same space, imitating the diversity of natural ecosystems)

Fisheries
Fishing is an important primary industry in Australia as it creates regional employment and wealth. Australia's fishing zone is the third largest fishing industry. To operate, Australia fisheries must demonstrate the sustainable management of fishery stocks and marine ecosystems
For more information about aquaculture, you can visit our online directory.