ABSTRACT
Aquaculture has been identified as a sector with high potential for increased protein production without excessive burdens on the ecosystem. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) produces regular authoritative statistical reports and publicly available databases on aquaculture sectors and subsectors, which include production volumes and values. Predictions by OECD-FAO for fish and seafood production and trade indicate that future growth in seafood production will originate from aquaculture. Aquaculture production is now fully comparable to capture fisheries landings when measured by volume of output on global scale. Marine aquaculture is a well-developed industry in the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions while it is under development in Baltic, North Sea and Black sea regions. The sector is dominated by the fish production sector in terms of the value, but this subsector also needs higher investment and operating costs.
