ABSTRACT
This introduction covers activities whose main object is the production of fresh-water, brackish and marine species by man under controlled or semi-controlled conditions. The production of living matter from the aquatic medium is fundamental to all aquaculture activities; aquaculture is based on the manipulation of the natural or artificial aquatic environment for the production of species which are useful to man. In the widest sense, aquaculture includes activities associated with the preparation of animals and plants for sale and their marketing. There are four main areas of aquaculture production: algae, molluscs, crustaceans and fish. In spite of this variation, the natural aquatic environment constitutes either the basis of the rearing operation or the origin of the water used in culture, as is the case for earth ponds. The ecological constraints associated with the relationship between the species being cultured and its environment may also be limiting.
