1. Explain why aquaculture is growing in importance worldwide.

[4]
changes in diet - reduction in meat;
health recommendations;
growing populations;
reduced size of wild capture catches;
pressure on natural ecosystems;
2. Outline two methods for wild fish capture. [2]
purse sein nets scoop up whole shoals/populations of fish;
gill nets are hung vertically and fish get caught in the nets by gills; can capture marine mammals as
by-catch;
long lines are single lines with baited fishing hooks attached; they are indiscriminate;
bottom trawling / dredging drags a net along the bottom of the sea bed to catch bottom living fish
e.g. cod, halibut; they are very destructive to the sea bottom ecosystem;
3. Outline the problems of using wild capture fisheries? [2]
difficult to monitor the health of wild fish populations;
many species are over-fished and populations are declining;
the method is very difficult to discriminate to the species in question;
does not differentiate by age of fish;
creates by-catch which has to be thrown back into sea due to fishing legislation;
4. Evaluate the use of tropical prawn farming. [3]
big demand for large prawns;
raised income for poor land owners and developing countries;
industrialisation is taking work away from smaller farmers;
often removes tropical mangrove forests;
not well regulated;
often usually generate large amounts of waste water;
encourage algal blooms due to nutrient enrichment of water with N and P;
reducing income of fishermen;
seasonal lagoons taken away from salt production to shrimp farming, diverting money away from
small scale industry;
5. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of open pen nets for fish farming. [3]
advantages:
reduces impact on wild fisheries;
provides source of income in poorer areas;
reduces danger for fish workers;
disadvantages:
parasites can infect local fish populations;
use of antibiotics and pesticides causes disease problems in local fish populations;
fish escapes causes genetic pollution;
intensification of fish production increases likelihood of algal blooms / water pollution;
6. Outline the advantages of suspended culture aquaculture. [2]
carbon capture in sea shells;
very low input;
no pollution;
7. Discuss the role of technology in aquaculture. [4]
technology such as sonar / spotter planes has enabled fisheries to be much more effective;
this can lead to over-exploitation of fish populations;
aquaculture has led to an increase in fish protein for growing populations;
aquaculture has led to a reduction in pressure on wild populations;
aquaculture has it's own problems with open systems causing local water pollution;
algal blooms from nutrient enrichment;
closed systems and integrated systems can reduce these problems;
water filters can clean water;
growing complementary species can reduce outputs of waste;
8. Evaluate integrated aquaculture. [4]
growing species together can reduce needs for inputs to system;
waste is recycled by suspension feeders;
primary producers (seaweed) reduce nutrient enrichment;
primary producers absorb CO2 and so reduce acidification;
sediment is ingested and processed by bottom feeders;
however fish can escape and cause genetic pollution / displacement of native species;
may disrupt local ecosystems through habitat destruction;