aquaculture

The notion of aquaculture alludes to a set of techniques that is used for cultivate water species, both animals and plants. These are procedures that allow organisms to breed aquatic for different purposes.

Aquaculture can develop in saltwater or in sweet water. In some cases, specialists work under controlled and artificially arranged conditions. They can also carry out their work in the natural environment, intervening in different ways.

It is important to note that the origins of aquaculture are very ancient. Several millennia before Christ, on China, they were already developing practices of this type, especially with carp fish. In medieval times, aquaculture began to become popular on the European continent as well.

More precisely, there is reference to examples of aquaculture dating from 3800 a. C.; two millennia later the legislature already protected fishermen from thieves, and in the 475 a. C. a treaty on carpentry was signed.

When the nature allows it, aquaculture takes place in lagoons, rivers or seas, for example. By appealing to different structures, it is possible to plant mussels, oysters and other species on the seabed. These extensive systemsThey are not the most common anyway. Aquaculture is usually carried out in a semi-intensive or intensive, even in swimming pools or artificial ponds.

Human intervention and the use of technology take place to a much greater degree in systems intensive and semi-intensive cultivation than in extensive cultivation: there is greater control, but the yield is also higher.

A clear example of an aquaculture system semi-intensive It is the use of floating cages to cultivate fish in lakes or in the sea. Although in this case the water is not supplied through a system of pumpingSince it is the one found naturally in the medium, it is necessary to add food and control the cultivation.

Channels in a semi-open or open circuit, and ponds, on the other hand, can also be used to carry out a cultivation system of this type, since they allow to take advantage of the Water current; this is seen very frequently in truticulture (trout farming).

On the other hand, there are the crops called intensive, which are usually carried out in facilities that are not found directly in the natural environment, but in pools or suitably insulated tanks with technical systems that are responsible for capturing and recirculating the water. Through this type of system, both the environment and the individuals undergo a control absolute.

As can be deduced from the characteristics, intensive aquaculture is much more costly at an economic level than semi-intensive aquaculture, and in general than any of the systems less dependent on aquaculture. technology; In addition, it requires much more control throughout the process to generate satisfactory results. However, this is offset by higher yields and remarkable productive potential, as proven by various experiences in the field.

By developing aquaculture isolated from the natural environment, specialists can control the different variables with greater precision, a particularity that helps to increase the productivity.

The salmon farming (salmon and trout farming), carpentry (tents) and the shrimp farming (shrimp) are some of the most frequent variants of aquaculture, an activity of great economic importance since it allows obtaining sources of food and resources for different industries.

There are also crops auxiliaries, which are used to gather the necessary food for the individuals of the main crops, such as mollusks or fish; in this group we find microinvertebrates (such as cladocerans, Thamnocephalus, Dendrocephalus, Artemia salina and rotifers) and microalgae (among which stand out Tetraselmis, Isochrisis Y Chlorella).