Overview of Sea Farming and Shore-

based Aquaculture
AQC 311 – Coastal Aquaculture and Mariculture

Dr. Ravindra H. Sontakke

Assistant Professor (C)
CFSc., Muthukur
 Introduction
• Coastal aquaculture and Marine Aquaculture or Sea farming - an activity
involving food production for human consumption in marine
environment.
 Coastal aquaculture Marine aquaculture

• Farming of aquatic organisms in • Farming of aquatic organisms in the

land-based facilities such as ponds, open sea, away from the shore, mainly
tanks, pens etc. in the coasts using in cages (fish and crustaceans) or
brackish or salt water. using rafts or long-lines (for molluscs

• Also known as ‘shore based and seaweeds)

aquaculture’ • Also known as ‘Mariculture or Sea

• Pond culture in the coasts using salt farming’

and brackish water • Aquaculture of aquatic plants and

animals in the sea
 Need For Mariculture

• World population increasing

• Food available per head is diminishing

• Freshwater scarcity

• Production from unit area of controlled environment much more than

from open natural waters

• Creating employment in the rural areas

 Types of Coastal Aquaculture and
Mariculture
Marine Finfish Culture

Protected, shallow areas with

Inshore Cages
less water circulation

Cage culture

Deep water and open areas with

Offshore cages less protection from storm but
better water exchange
• Total reported cage aquaculture production – 62 countries and provinces/regions -
2412167 tonnes (excluding China)
• Major cage culture producers - Norway (652306 tonnes), Chile (588 060 tonnes),
Japan (272 821 tonnes), United Kingdom (135 253 tonnes), Vietnam (126 000
tonnes), Greece (76 577 tonnes), Turkey (78 924 tonnes), and the Philippines (66
249 tonnes)
• Species - salmon, Japanese amberjack, red sea bream, yellow croaker, European
sea bass, gilthead sea bream, cobia and groupers
• Major cage farming countries - China, Indonesia, Taiwan Province of China and
Vietnam.
• Finfish species in cages in Asia viz. groupers, snappers, carangids, seabass, cobia
• Japan - yellowtail (Seriola quinqueradiata) and red sea bream (Pagrus major)
Nets and Shallow water, edges are
fish pen anchored to the bottom

Fish pond Pond compartments enclosed by dikes,

system canals for supply and drainage of water
and gates or water control structures

Enhancement or Sea Ranching

Crustacean Earthen ponds,
Culture concrete raceways
and tanks

Suspended - floating rafts or

Hanging
long lines on strings, trays,
cultures
stacks or mesh bags

Vertical or sticks or platforms

rack culture
Mollusc
Culture
Shells, stones, rocks or
Bottom cement slabs added to the
culture ground

Land-based
systems
 Marine Plant Culture

Bottom cultures at Inland tank

Suspended
the sea cultures

Large rocks or
Long line and
artificial shapes
raft
of concrete are
placed on the
seabed
 Overview
• Coastal ponds for aquaculture - modern or traditional - found in all regions in the
world
• More concentrated in South, Southeast and East Asia and Latin America - raising
crustaceans, finfish, molluscs - lesser extent, seaweeds
• Many Asian countries - more recently - Latin American, European and North
American countries - expertise and support institutions for marine and coastal
aquaculture
• Most African countries - behind despite ambitious projections at the regional and
national levels
• Proper policies and planning, enabling environment in support of infrastructure,
technical expertise and investment - promote marine aquaculture in Africa
• Difficult to separate mariculture from coastal aquaculture figures -

combine production from coastal aquaculture and mariculture for data

reporting to FAO

• Particularly for finfish - from both coastal ponds and cages in the sea,

especially in Asia

• In contrast to Asia, farmed finfish in saltwater - mostly produced in the

sea - exceptions for countries such as Egypt and species such as turbot in

Europe
• Mariculture and coastal aquaculture - produced 30.8 million tonnes
(USD 106.5 billion) of aquatic animals in 2018
• Many more molluscs than finfish and crustaceans - despite technological
developments in marine finfish aquaculture (SOFIA, 2020)
• Shelled molluscs (17.3 million tonnes) - 56.2 percent of marine and
coastal aquaculture production in 2018
• Finfish (7.3 million tonnes) and crustaceans (5.7 million tonnes) -
together - 42.5 percent
 Production Trend

• World aquaculture production -114.5 million tonnes in live weight in

2018 - total farmgate sale value - USD 263.6 billion.

 Aquatic animals - 82.1 million tonnes - (USD 250.1 billion)

 Aquatic algae - 32.4 million tonnes - (USD 13.3 billion)

 Ornamental seashells, pearls – 26,000 tonnes - (USD 179 000)

 Aquatic animals

• Finfish - 54.3 million tonnes - USD 139.7 billion

• Inland aquaculture - 47 million tonnes - USD 104.3 billion
• Marine and coastal aquaculture - 7.3 million tonnes - USD 35.4 billion
• Molluscs - 17.7 million tonnes - USD 34.6 billion – mainly bivalves –
crustaceans (9.4 million tonnes, USD 69.3 billion)
• Marine invertebrates - 435 400 tonnes - USD 2 billion
• Aquatic turtles - 370 000 tonnes - USD 3.5 billion
• Frogs - 131 300 tonnes - USD 997 million
 Aquatic algae
• Wild-collected and cultivated aquatic algae combined - 32.4 million tonnes -
farmed seaweeds (97.1 % by volume) in 2018
• Seaweed farming - practised in smaller numbers of countries, dominated by East
and Southeast Asia
• World production (marine macroalgae, or seaweed) - 10.6 million tonnes in 2000
to 32.4 million tonnes in 2018
• Rapid growth in farming of tropical seaweed species (Kappaphycus alvarezii
and Eucheuma spp.) in Indonesia 11 million tonnes (2018)
• Limited data - in Europe and north America.

• Some species (e.g. Undaria pinnatifida, Porphyra spp. and Caulerpa spp.,
produced in East and Southeast Asia) - as human food
• China, India and Indonesia – dominated - Inland aquaculture of finfish

production

• Norway, Chile, Japan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern

Ireland, Canada and Greece - major producers of mariculture of finfish species,

especially coldwater salmonids.

• Countries in East and Southeast Asia - rely on coastal aquaculture for farmed

finfish production than mariculture in the sea, especially in countries that are

exposed to typhoons every year, including China, the Philippines and Viet

Nam.
 Marine shrimps - dominate - crustaceans - farmed in coastal aquaculture - an

important source of foreign-exchange earnings for a number of developing

countries in Asia and Latin America.

 Marine molluscs produced by China dwarfs that of all other producers some

countries produce significant quantities of bivalves.

 These include Japan, the Republic of Korea, Spain, France and Italy