Editing Fish farming (section)

{{Short description|Raising fish commercially in enclosures}}
[[File:Fish farm Amarynthos Euboea Greece - edit1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|A fish farm on the coast of [[Euboea]] island, in [[South Euboean Gulf]], Greece]]

'''Fish farming''' or '''pisciculture''' involves commercial [[animal husbandry|breeding]] of [[fish]], most often for [[food]], in [[fish tank]]s or artificial [[pen (enclosure)|enclosure]]s such as [[fish pond]]s. It is a particular type of [[aquaculture]], which is the controlled cultivation and [[fishing|harvesting]] of [[aquatic animal]]s such as fish, [[crustacean]]s, [[mollusc]]s and so on, in [[natural environment|natural]] or pseudo-natural environments. A facility that releases [[juvenile fish]] into the wild for [[recreational fishing]] or to supplement a species' natural numbers is generally referred to as a [[fish hatchery]]. Worldwide, the most important fish [[species]] produced in fish farming are [[carp]], [[catfish]], [[salmon]] and [[tilapia]].<ref name=FAO/>

Global demand is increasing for [[fish as food|dietary fish protein]], which has resulted in widespread [[overfishing]] in [[wild fisheries]], resulting in significant decrease in [[fish stocks]] and even complete depletion in some regions. Fish farming allows establishment of artificial fish [[colony (biology)|colonies]] that are provided with sufficient [[feeding]], protection from natural [[predator]]s and [[competition (biology)|competitive threats]], access to [[veterinarian]] service, and easier harvesting when needed, while being separate from and thus do not usually impact the [[sustainable yield]]s of wild fish populations. While fish farming is practised worldwide, [[China]] alone provides 62% of the world's farmed fish production.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-11-08 |title=Fishfarming, Aquaculture Consulting, Aquaculture Articles, Aquaculture Consultancy, Fisheries News |url=http://www.ftai.com/article.htm#FFNsep14 |access-date=2022-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108063608/http://www.ftai.com/article.htm#FFNsep14 |archive-date=2014-11-08 }}</ref> As of 2016, more than 50% of seafood was produced by aquaculture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aquaculture/faqs/faq_aq_101.html#4howmuch|title=Basic Questions about Aquaculture :: Office of Aquaculture|last=Aquaculture|first=Office of|website=www.nmfs.noaa.gov|access-date=2016-06-09}}{{Dead link|date=February 2025}}</ref> In the last three decades, aquaculture has been the main driver of the increase in fisheries and aquaculture production, with an average growth of 5.3 percent per year in the period 2000–2018, reaching a record 82.1 million tonnes in 2018.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://doi.org/10.4060/cb1329en|title=World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2020|publisher=FAO|year=2020|isbn=978-92-5-133394-5|location=Rome|doi=10.4060/cb1329en|s2cid=242794287}}</ref>
[[File:World capture fisheries and aquaculture production by production mode, from World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2021.svg|thumb|World capture fisheries and aquaculture production by production mode, from [[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]]'s Statistical Yearbook 2021<ref>{{Cite book|title=World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2021|url=https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb4477en/|access-date=2021-12-13|year=2021|language=en|doi=10.4060/cb4477en|isbn=978-92-5-134332-6|s2cid=240163091}}</ref>]]
Farming [[carnivorous fish]] such as [[salmon]], however, does not always reduce pressure on wild fisheries, such farmed fish are usually fed [[fishmeal]] and [[fish oil]] extracted from wild [[forage fish]]. The 2008 global returns for fish farming recorded by the [[FAO]] totaled 33.8 million [[tonne]]s worth about US$60 billion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAO Fisheries & Aquaculture |url=https://www.fao.org/fishery/statistics/global-aquaculture-production/en |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=www.fao.org}}</ref>

Although fish farming for food is the most widespread, another major fish farming industry provides living fish for the [[aquarium]] trade. The vast majority of freshwater fish in the aquarium trade originate from farms in Eastern and Southern Asia, eastern Europe, Florida and South America that use either indoor tank systems or outdoor pond systems, while farming of fish for the marine aquarium trade happens at a much smaller scale.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Tlusty | first=M. | year=2002 | title=The benefits and risks of aquacultural production for the aquarium trade | journal=Aquaculture | volume=205 | issue=3–4 | pages=203–219 | doi=10.1016/S0044-8486(01)00683-4 | bibcode=2002Aquac.205..203T }}</ref> In 2022 24% of fishers and fish farmers and 62% of workers in post-harvest sector were women.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |url=https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cd0683en |title=The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 |date=2024-06-07 |publisher=FAO |isbn=978-92-5-138763-4 |language=en |doi=10.4060/cd0683en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Leingang | first=A. | date=25 October 2021 | title=An introduction to ornamental aquaculture | url=https://thefishsite.com/articles/an-introduction-to-ornamental-aquaculture-starting-a-business-part-i | publisher=TheFishSite | access-date=19 March 2023 }}</ref>

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