Farming aquatic animals. The emergence of a world-wide industry with profound ecological consequences

Although on land man has obtained the major part of animal protein from domesticated animals for several hundred years, at least 90 percent of the food from lakes and the sea together is obtained by methods equivalent to hunting. The culture of aquatic organisms has been practiced for thousands of years, but it is only now that aquaculture is gaining a real significance in food production. This major change in the utilization of aquatic species by man is bound to have a significant influence on landscapes and waterways, and the quest for ever more intensive utilization of water resoures calls for developments in applied ecology and the application of several techniques common to process engineering.