Aquaculture and Ocean Resources: Raising Tigers of the Sea

With continued human pressure on marine fisheries and ocean resources,

aquaculture has become one of the most promising avenues for increasing

marine fish production in the future. This review presents recent trends and future

prospects for the aquaculture industry, with particular attention paid to ocean farming

and carnivorous finfish species. The benefits of farming carnivorous fish have been

challenged; extensive research on salmon has shown that farming such fish can have

negative ecological, social, and health impacts on areas and parties vastly separated in

space. Similar research is only beginning for the new carnivorous species farmed or

ranched in marine environments, such as cod, halibut, and bluefin tuna. These fish have

large market potential and are likely to play a defining role in the future direction of the

aquaculture industry.We review the available literature on aquaculture development of

carnivorous finfish species and assess its potential to relieve human pressure on marine

fisheries, many of which have experienced sharp declines.