68 Fish as feed inputs for aquaculture – Practices, sustainability and implications
marine) have remained static. This implies that although major strides have been made
in increasing the production volumes of the various commodities over the last two
decades, the relative importance of each of these in the overall production scenario has
remained unchanged.
In this report, seaweeds and molluscs (except for Babylon snail and abalone)
are not considered, as the culture of these commodities generally is not based on
externally provided feeds. Figure 2 (a–d) depicts the changes in the global and total
Asian freshwater, brackishwater and marine aquaculture production from 1980 to 2004
based on five-year averages, together with the percent Asian contribution in each of
the cases. Asia clearly dominates all forms of aquaculture, contributing 91, 95, 77
and 90 percent to the total global, inland, brackishwater and marine aquaculture
production, respectively, in 2004. It is also evident that throughout the recent history of
the sector, when aquaculture began to gain prominence as an aquatic food provider to
the global community, Asian aquaculture has been the largest contributor to production
volume. Comparable trends (global and Asian) in the total cultured commodities and in
each of the environments are evident for finfish (Figure 3a–c) and crustaceans (Figure
4a–c), the two groups of cultured commodities that are dependent on fish as a food
source. In all of the above instances, Asia continues to dominate production. Moreover,
China is the main aquaculture-producing nation (FAO, 2006b) and also dominates the
global fish trade (Kurien, 2005).FIGURE 2
Total global and Asian aquaculture production (mean per year for five-year periods) and the
percent contribution of Asian production to the total, 1980– 2004a. Global and Asian aquaculture production b. Global and Asian inland aquaculture productionSource: FAO (2006a)c. Global and Asian brackishwater aquaculture
productiond. Global and Asian marine aquaculture
production83%85%89%91%91%707580859095100010203040506080 - 84 85 - 89 90 - 94 95 - 99 00 - 04
YearsAsia World %M illio n to nnes
Asia'spercent contribution
78%84%90%94%95%7075808590951000510152080 -84 85 -89 90 -94 95 -99 00 - 04Asia World %YearsM illio n to nnes
A sia's p ercent co ntrib utio n25M illio n to nnes
A sia's p ercent co ntrib utio n85%
83%82%76%
77%70758085909510000.51.01.52 .02 .53.080- 84 85- 89 90- 94 95- 99 00- 04Asia World %Years86% 87%89% 90% 90%70758085909510005101520253080- 84 85- 89 90 - 94 95- 99 00- 04Asia World %M illio n to nnes
A sia's p ercent co ntrib utio nYears