ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors focus on some of the connections between culture, aquaculture, and industry, and they use the concept of "taste" to show how cultures are bound together with ecosystems, so that the fate of the ocean is connected to their bodies and their perceptions of the world. While there is clearly a biological substrate for taste—even newborn babies make a face when they taste something bitter—a lot depends on the particular flavors favored by each culture. Aquaculture has benefits and costs, opportunities, and risks. Aquaculture also offers a relatively stable supply of animal proteins compared to the booms and crashes common in wild fisheries. People have been using aquatic resources for nonfood purposes for thousands of years as well, in fertilizer, animal feed, medicine, lubricating oil, and hundreds of other products. In the case of fish, people have gradually come to accept that something can be fresh and frozen at the same time.
