Use of wild fish and other aquatic organisms as feed in aquaculture in the Asia-Pacific 69
A further analysis of the data taking into account commodities and relevant species
groups among finfish that are dependent on fish as food sources exemplifies the point
made previously. In Figure 5, the contribution of such commodities to global and
Asian aquaculture production (excluding seaweeds and molluscs) in 1980, 1990, 2000
and 2004 is depicted. Although there had been a ten-fold increase in global and Asian
production of these commodities from 1980 to 2004, the percent contribution of each
of the categories has remained almost unchanged. For example, the contribution of
freshwater finfish declined from 71 to 66 percent in Asia, but remained unchanged
globally. By contrast, Asian carnivorous finfish production in 2004 was 3 368 956
tonnes (967 348 tonnes from marine, 56 389 tonnes from brackishwater and 2 345
219 tonnes from freshwater aquaculture), while production in 1980 and 1990 were
respectively and in order, 173 128 and 272 685 tonnes (marine), 2007 and 13 757 tonnes
(brackishwater) and 169 550 and 437 496 tonnes (freshwater). Perhaps the greatest
change is observed in crustacean production, which increased from 3 to 12 percent
of total aquaculture production during the same period, both globally and in Asia.
Another important change in the aquaculture sector (although perhaps less significant
in the context of the total volume) is that crab production has increased to 200 000
tonnes per annum, surpassing captured production by almost five-fold.
The production figures per se may mask some of the major trends in the growth of
the sector. In Figure 6a-d the mean yearly growth rates (percent per year) of finfish
and crustacean aquaculture in different environments in Asia and the rest of the world,
between 1980 and 2004 are depicted. It is evident that the growth rates in marine and
brackishwater finfish aquaculture in Asia have increased somewhat, while the growth
rate in freshwater finfish aquaculture has declined over the years, this trend also being
FIGURE 3
Total global and Asian cultured marine, brackishwater and freshwater finfish production
(mean per year for five-year periods), 1980– 2004
a. Marine finfish b. Brackishwater finfishc. Freshwater finfishSource: FAO (2006a)Thousand to n n e sYears89%68%48%
39%
38%3040506070809010002004006008001 0001 2001 4001 60080 - 84 85 - 89 90 - 94 95 - 99 00 - 04Asia Rest of the world %A sia's p ercent co ntrib utio n94%
88%88%
78%63%30405060708090100010020030040050060070080 - 84 85 - 89 90 - 94 95 - 99 00 - 04Asia Rest of the world %Thousand to n n e sYearsA sia's p ercent co ntrib utio n79%85%90%
94% 94%3040506070809010005 00010 00015 00020 00025 00080 - 84 85- 89 90 - 94 95- 99 00 - 04Asia Rest of the world %Thousand to n n e s
A sia's p ercent co ntrib utio nYears