Vocabulary

carp	карп
tilapia	тилапия
tank	бак, цистерна
propagation	размножение, воспроизводство
pond	пруд
rainbow trout	радужная форель
captivity	неволя
streams	водные потоки, ручьи

Answer the questions

1. Where did the first fish culture begin?

2. Who else was early practitioners of fish culture?

3. What is the native place of rainbow trout?

3 Ancient and modern aquaculture

Aquaculture has a long history, but for much of the world it remains somewhat of a novelty, being practiced less than agriculture or capture fisheries.

Although carp ponds are rooted in antiquity, they are still popular today, and enthusiasts worldwide maintain associations devoted to these fish. Shown here are colorful koi, originally bred from the common grass carp, swimming in a pond at a Japanese garden and teahouse. Carp have religious and cultural significance in Asia and other parts of the world.

Yet as the world demand for fish increases, recent advances in growing fish in captivity have led to a rapid expansion of the aquaculture industry.

During the last 30 years of the twentieth century, aquaculture grew at an average annual rate of 10 percent, and emerged as the only growth sector of the fisheries industry. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, aquaculture's share of total fish production worldwide was 25 percent, and that proportion is projected to increase. Even though the production of fish from capture fisheries has not substantially increased over the past decade (1990s), capture fisheries nevertheless account for a far greater percentage than aquaculture.

Diversity of aquaculture species. Hundreds of species of finfish, crustacean, mollusks, and plants are used in aquaculture. Most are finfish species, and many of these are grown as food fishes. The most common fresh-water aquaculture species are carp, tilapia, catfish, and trout. Other species are cultivated as bait fish, ornamental fish for water gardens and aquaria, sport (game) fish, laboratory fish for experimentation, industrial and medicinal products, and as native fish to mitigate losses to wild fish populations.

In the United States, catfish and trout, grown as food fishes, are by far the most popular aquaculture species. But other species are also commonly grown for food, including salmon, striped bass, and tilapia. Also, there is a small industry for alligators, frogs, turtles, egg seed stock, and ornamental fishes.

Vocabulary

capture fisheries	прудовое рыбоводство
colourful koi	декоративный карп (карп кои)
common grass carp	культивируемый карп
finfish	рыбные объекты
crustacean	ракобразные
mollusks	моллюски
food fishes	рыба для пищи
bait fish	рыба для наживки

Topics for discussion

1. Speak about the place of capture fisheries in the whole aquaculture industry

2. Speak about food species.

3. Speak about bait species.

4 PURPOSES OF AQUACULTURE

Aquaculture is practiced for a number of reasons. And the chief aim among them is food production and income generation. Most fresh-water aquaculture production (over 70 percent) comes from low-income, food-deficit countries. Even in the poorest countries, fish farming is seldom solely a subsistence activity. So while farmers may consume some of their product, typically fish are sold, thereby enabling farmers to earn income to purchase other goods and services.

Additional purposes of aquaculture include:

• Utilizing land unsuitable for agriculture;

• Utilizing inland water bodies such as shallow lakes;

• Reclaiming saline soils;

• Increasing the supply of highly valued species;

• Improving the reliability of fish supplied in the marketplace;

• Offsetting losses in the capture fisheries or in native fish populations;

• Servicing the sport fishing industry;

• Controlling parasites like mosquito and snail larvae that cause diseases such as dengue fever and malaria;

• Storing water; and

• Earning foreign exchange. (Europe and the United States import aquaculture products from Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.)

Most people think of aquaculture as the production of aquatic animals for human consumption, and many of the aquaculture efforts around the world are being conducted for that purpose. There are, however, other purposes for which aquatic organisms are grown. Examples include producing minnows for bait, rearing tropical fishes and gold fish for the aquarium trade and producing ornamental aquatic plants (water liles).