ABSTRACT
Aquaculture is the cultivation of aquatic animals and plants. Its primary purpose is to produce aquatic food organisms for human consumption, but includes other purposes such as the cultivation of ornamental and aquarium fishes. Aquaculture may be done on many scales, ranging from small rainfed ponds to increase food production for rural families to large commercial farms to provide export products for international markets. Regardless of scale, aquaculture is an economic activity, and the value of aquacultural crops must exceed the cost of producing them. Knowledge of factors and interactions that determine success in aquaculture is not as well developed as in traditional agriculture; thus, aquaculture has tended to be risky and has suffered in some instances from unsustainability. But aquaculture technology is improving rapidly, and more reliable production systems are emerging.
