Marine Aquaculture

Until recently the sea was viewed as an almost unlimited resource.  It provided plentiful supplies of both edible and ornamental organisms, and raw materials for the pharmaceutical, construction and leisure industries.  Increasingly, human pressures on the marine environment are changing this simplistic view.   High technology 'quick fixes' for falling catches of wild fish have contributed to the collapse of fisheries around the world.  Aquaculture was seen by many as the solution to providing high grade marine produce to rapidly increasing human populations.  However, inappropriately managed and overly intensive aquaculture has been shown to be unsustainable: the immediate environment is degraded and business ventures fail.  New, more holistic approaches are urgently needed to address the current problems affecting wild fisheries, the aquaculture industry, and the environment.