Fish farming: the fish of the future

07/07/2009 - Article

A special issue of the journal Cahiers Agricultures on the issues for, techniques used in and sustainability of fish farming.

Fish farming plays, and will increasingly play in future, a crucial role in feeding the world. According to many nutritionists, fish contains almost every nutrient, and it is thus a vital part of a balanced diet. Moreover, a quick calculation of the volume of global requirements determined by this nutritional demand in relation to production capacity shows that the two values more or less correspond. However, even if everything possible is done on a global level to safeguard the resource, coverage of demand is largely dependent on fish farming.
To cope with these nutritional issues, fish farming needs to be relatively intensive. What can we do to ensure that genetic resources are not exhausted? How can we make sure that there will not be environmental consequences that will eventually have an impact on production? How can we distribute the wealth that could be generated by fish farming in such a way as to foster enterprise while avoiding exclusion?
This issue of Cahiers Agricultures tackles all these questions. It was produced on the initiative of, and in close collaboration with, Jérôme Lazard, a CIRAD researcher and international expert in the domestication and farming of warm water fish species.

Piscicultures : le poisson de demain
Cahiers Agricultures
Vol. 18, No. 2/3, March-April/May-June 2009
Publ. John Libbey Eurotext