ABSTRACT
Global aquaculture production in 2000 was estimated at 45.7 million metric tons (mt) and valued at US$56.5 thousand million.1 Over 91 percent of the aquaculture production by weight and 82 percent by value originated from Asia. The top nine aquaculture-producing states are Asian: China, India, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, Bangladesh and Vietnam. Seven of these producing states are developing countries. The most spectacular growth in aquaculture production from 1995 to 2000 has been in Africa, where production has gone from 100,000 mt to nearly 400,000 mt with a value just shy of US$1 billion. Overall, since 1991 there has been a tripling of global aquaculture production.2
