PORT ELIZABETH - NMMU HOLD 2 DAY OCEANS ECONOMY SYMPOSIUM TO DISCUSS OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE

A two day Oceans Economy Symposium is looking at investing in blue growth and sustainable solutions for Southern Oceans. The focus is two fold, off shore aquaculture and shipbuilding.

The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University has initiated a two-day Ocean Symposium with strategic partners. There are two niche ocean economy focus areas pertaining to the Western Indian Ocean and Southern Oceans each of which will be discussed in parallel sessions over two days.

One focus is offshore aquaculture in severe offshore conditions. The other focus is medium scale and specialised vessel construction and ship repair.


What is aquaculture?
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants.Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish.[4] Broadly speaking, the relation of aquaculture to finfish and shellfish fisheries is analogous to the relation of agriculture to hunting and gathering. Mariculture refers to aquaculture practiced in marine environments and in underwater habitats.

According to the FAO, aquaculture "is understood to mean the farming of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Farming implies some form of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding, protection from predators, etc. Farming also implies individual or corporate ownership of the stock being cultivated."

The reported output from global aquaculture operations would supply one half of the fish and shellfish that is directly consumed by humans; however, there are issues about the reliability of the reported figures. Further, in current aquaculture practice, products from several pounds of wild fish are used to produce one pound of a piscivorous fish like salmon.

Particular kinds of aquaculture include fish farming, shrimp farming, oyster farming, mariculture, algaculture (such as seaweed farming), and the cultivation of ornamental fish. Particular methods include aquaponics and integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, both of which integrate fish farming and plant farming ( Wikipedia )

Main aquaculture countries in 2010