Overview
World aquaculture has grown tremendously during the last 50 years from a production of less than a million tonnes in the early 1950s to 59.4 million tonnes by 2004. This level of production had a value of US$ 70.3 billion. Of the production, 41.3 million tonnes or 69.6 percent were produced in the Peoples’ Republic of China (hereafter referred to as China) and 21.9 percent from the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. The Western European region contributed 3.5 percent with 2.1 million tones (valued at US$ 5.4 billion), while the Central and Eastern Europe region contributed 250 000 tonnes, or 0.4 percent. Latin America and the Caribbean and North America contributed 2.3 percent and 1.3 percent respectively. Finally, production from the Near East and North Africa region and Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 0.9 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, of the global total for 2004.Regional growth of aquaculture
Production within each region is diverse. In the Asia-Pacific region aquaculture production from South Asia, China and most of Southeast Asia consist of cyprinids, while those from the rest of East Asia consist of high-value marine fish. In global terms, some 99.8 percent of cultured aquatic plants, 97.5 percent of cyprinids, 87.4 percent of penaeids and 93.4 percent of oysters come from the Asia-Pacific region. Meanwhile 55.6 percent of the world’s farmed salmonids come from Western Europe, mainly from the northern region of the continent. However, carps dominate in the Central and Eastern Europe region, both in quantity and in value.
In North America, channel catfish is the top aquaculture species in the United States, while Atlantic and Pacific salmon dominate in Canada. In the Latin America and the Caribbean region, over the last decade salmonids have overtaken shrimp as the top aquaculture species group due to disease outbreaks in major shrimp producing areas and the rapid growth in salmon production in Chile.
The Sub-Saharan Africa region continues to be a minor player in aquaculture despite its natural potentials. Even aquaculture of tilapia, which is native to the continent, has not developed to a large degree. Nigeria leads in the region with 44 000 tonnes of catfish, tilapia and other freshwater fishes reported. There are some isolated bright spots in the continent: black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) in Madagascar and Eucheuma seaweed in The United Republic of Tanzania are thriving, and production of niche species like abalone (Haliotis spp.) in South Africa is increasing. In North Africa and the Near East, Egypt is by far the dominant producing country (92 percent of the total for the region) and, in fact, is now the second biggest tilapia producer after China and is the world’s top producer of mullets (see Table).
Global outlook
Aquaculture is developing, expanding and intensifying in almost all regions of the world, except in Sub-Saharan Africa, as the global population demand for aquatic food products is expected to increase. Globally, production from capture fisheries has leveled off and most of the main fishing areas have reached their maximum potential. Sustaining fish supplies from capture fisheries will, therefore, not be able to meet the growing global demand for aquatic food.
The current contribution of aquaculture to the world aquatic production in 2004 is about 45.5 million tonnes (excluding aquatic plants). According to FAO projections, it is estimated that in order to maintain the current level of per capita consumption, global aquaculture production will need to reach 80 million tonnes by 2050. Aquaculture has the potential to make a significant contribution to this increasing demand for aquatic food in most regions of the world; however, in order to achieve this, the sector (and aqua-farmers) will face great challenges.
Aquaculture is making an important contribution to global production and a number of key development trends are taking place. It is apparent that the aquaculture sector continues to intensify and diversify, to use new species and modifying its systems and practices. Aquaculture is doing this with the growing awareness that it must be done through the responsible use of the resources upon which it depends and to society in general.
Markets, trade and consumption preferences, strongly influence the growth of the sector, with clear demands for production of safe and quality products. As a consequence, increasing emphasis is placed on enhanced enforcement of regulation and better governance of the sector. It is increasingly realized that this cannot be achieved without the participation of the producers in decision making and regulation process, which has led to efforts to empower farmers and their associations and move towards increasing self-regulation. These factors are all contributing towards improving management of the sector, typically through promoting “better management” practices of producers.
TOP TEN PRODUCERS OF TILAPIA AND MULLET IN 2004 | |||
| COUNTRY | TILAPIA (TONNES) | COUNTRY | MULLET (TONNES) |
| China | 897 276 | Egypt | 132 651 |
| Egypt | 199 038 | Indonesia | 11 730 |
| Philippines | 145 869 | Korea, Republic of | 4 442 |
| Indonesia | 139 651 | Taiwan Province of China | 2 341 |
| Thailand | 97 653 | Israel | 1 792 |
| Taiwan Province of China | 89 275 | China, Hong Kong SAR | 577 |
| Brazil | 69 078 | Greece | 509 |
| Lao People's Dem. Rep. | 29 205 | Tunisia | 360 |
| Colombia | 27 953 | Ukraine | 243 |
| Malaysia | 25 642 | Italy | 99 |