The Role of Aquaculture in Enhancing Global Fish Production and Aquatic Biodiversity

Abstract

Aquaculture, which contributes the major portion to fish production at the global level, has helped to narrow the gap between capture fishery output and the increasing demand for protein sources worldwide. In this study, aquaculture production and biodiversity changes across ecological zones are assessed simultaneously with their contribution to increasing the global fish production potential. Global production data of different species from different regions, species diversity indices, and environment management effectiveness are compiled for different aquaculture systems, including recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), pond systems, integrated rice-fish culture, and mariculture in Asia-Pacific, Europe, America, and Africa in this comparative and integrative assessment. Data showed that the aquaculture output was 94.3 million metric tons at a global scale by 2023, and its share in Asia-Pacific was more than 83% of the total output. The results for different species indicated that mollusk and seaweed culture systems had the highest compatibility with aquatic biodiversity (indices, 0.81-0.90), whereas intensive culture for crustaceans was the least compatible with diversity (0.58). Statistical data proved a significant correlation between sustainability practice and biodiversity maintenance (r=0.87, p < 0.01). Thus, it's urgent to incorporate biodiversity-related management approaches into the global aquaculture policy. For future work, the integration of a multi-trophic culture system and genomic-aided selection will be key to reconciling productivity and biodiversity.