FAO Yearbook: Aquaculture 2009

FAO’s most recent yearbook for 2009, includes projections of the aquaculture markets in the years to come and a list of top aquaculture producers by tonnage. With the aquaculture market growing by 6% a year the annual global market has reached 105 billion USD. China is generating over 60% of the world aquaculture production with 34 million tonnes, and our neighbor’s Norway rank 7^th in production, producing just under a million tonnes. Intentional trading has increased by 70% since 2000 and projections see continued growth. For those interested starting their own aquaculture initiative, this provides two opportunities. First, one could produce for the global market, as Norway has done, coming in second as an overall exporter of aquaculture production. The second opportunity, which is more inline with the goal of Aquaponics NU, is to create localized production to stem the global trade. By producing locally we can create jobs, reduce carbon fueled global production, monitor the sustainability of the production systems and implement aquaponics to mitigate the destruction of local ecosystems. Aquaculture in places like China, with relaxed regulations, aquaculture production can be excessively damaging to ecosystems when nutrient laden effluents are dumped into the local water tables or river systems. Furthermore, introducing aquaculture as a monocultural production method can wreak havoc on the local economies.