Aquaculture Revisited
Opportunities for and constraints of animal aquaculture are considered with special reference to the Pacific basin. Choice of species for husbandry depends on biological, cultural, and marketability criteria. Seed production (spawning and larval rearing) may be centralized, with certain economy of scale advantages, even in artisanal aquaculture enterprises, provided adequate distribution facilities for postlarvae are made. Larval survival rates for several actual or potential cultivars still need enhancement through applied research. Practices for the growout phase of aquatic stock differ, depending on the intensity of fixed and variable inputs, by analogy with terrestrial systems one may distinguish feedlot, managed pasturage, and ranching modes. For much of tropical Asia best expansion opportunities exist in managed pasturage polyculture possibly combining the grow-out of crustacea for export with local, largely herbivorous and planktivorous semistaple species. Extraneously supplied feeds, when used, will differ with the species and locally available raw materials. Nonbiotechnical constraints to aquaculture expansion are found in the areas of training, credit, extension, social impact of change, and information dissemination. They may be as difficult, if not more difficult, to overcome as purely biological ones.