Asia, of all the continents, plays the most significant role in world aquaculture production. Fish farming is a traditional and age-old practice in almost every Asian country. Over 80% of the total aquaculture production globally comes from Asia. The estimated world aquaculture production in 1986 was 11.09 million tonnes (t), of which Asia alone produced 9.05 million t.
This survey describes the regional aquaculture sector in 12 West Asian countries. These countries are:
Bangladesh
Burma
India
Indonesia
Kampuchea
Malaysia
Maldives
Nepal
Pakistan
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Thailand
By comparison with the East Asian group of countries (which includes the leading global producers China, Japan, Republic of Korea, and the Philippines) the West Asian region produces less than 750 000 t. This figure is in fact confused by the contribution of India which, for many years, had been recorded at about 1 million t. However, it is known that much of this is from inland fisheries, some of which are supplemented by aquaculture through annual stocking programmes.
Although aquaculture is as much of a tradition in continental West Asia as it is in East Asia, the diversity of aquaculture in the region is produced by the range in environmental characteristics and individual resources of each country. The Maldives for example has no need for aquaculture as a group of oceanic islands with ready access to marine resources. Nepal on the other hand is a land-locked country very dependent on its freshwater resources.
In general terms, the countries of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have preference for freshwater culture, and the countries of Burma, Indonesia, Kampuchea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, place more emphasis on brackishwater and marine culture.
In addition to variable but good resources for aquaculture, the region has many diversities. Individual populations range from the high of 751 million in India to the low of 200 000 in the Maldives. There is the high per caput GNP in Singapore of US$ 7 260 to the low of US$ 70 in Kampuchea but, compared with the group of East Asian countries, the GNP of most of the countries in the West region is low (below US$ 600 per caput). However, each country invariably has natural assets for aquaculture in terms of water resources, coastline, ox-bow lakes and, most importantly, the liking of fish and fishery products.
In spite of their high aquaculture profiles these countries are predominantly classified as developing countries. Like those countries of East Asia they are characterized by high population growth rates, low incomes, low levels of education, health and personal consumption, and low levels of infrastructure development and industrialization.
