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Aquaculture is a sustainable activity when 4 basic criteria are respected:
- mastery of the life-cycle
Knowing how to breed the adult fish and be able to rear an egg to the adult size
- control of the growing process
Knowledge of the nutritional and behavioural requirements of the fish in order to assure efficient husbandry
- respecting the environment
Fish farming can only be done successfully in a clean environment - if this criterion is not respected, fish farming cannot be sustainable
- marketing the final product
If the farmer cannot sell his product for a profit, it is clear that his business is not sustainable
This section on rearing techniques and culture methodology describes how these criteria can be managed successfully while respecting the needs of the fish, the environment and the consumer
Farming implies some form of human intervention in the rearing process in order to enhance , through regular , , protection from predators, etc. The following definitions are those accepted internationally for the basic aquaculture production systems employed for farming
• Extensive systems
Any system that requires neither supplementary feeding nor a direct input to support of the being reared.
• Semi-intensive system
A development of the extensive system which requires supplementary feeding (and energy), depending thus both on the natural and supplied feed.
• Intensive systems
Any culture system that depends exclusively on manufactured inputs (and energy) to organisms.
• Restocking
The release of juvenile in mainly coastal, sea areas, lakes or rivers. and where harvesting of the resulting production is carried out by conventional fisheries (professional or recreational). In this document the term 'fisheries ' will be used with the same meaning.
• Ranching
A sub-category of re-stocking. originating from salmon fisheries enhancement programmes. This term is often employed for the restocking of species which are either migratory, returning close to the point of release (e.g. salmon), or non-migratory, remaining for at least a substantial portion of the life-cycle in restricted areas, where they enter the local fishery (e.g. lobster).
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