Aquatic Polyculture and Balanced Ecosystem Management: New Paradigms for Seafood Production

Chinese aquaculture has employed a balanced ecosystem approach for freshwater aquaculture for several thousand years. Utilizing species that feed at different levels of the food web has permitted China to have the largest freshwater aquaculture production in the world. This production has proved to be sustainable in the long run because there is balance in this system. This concept is just starting to be thought of for broader aquaculture, including marine operations at sea or on land, and fishery communities around the world.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has developed a Sustainable Fisheries Implementation Plan that recognizes three key elements - fisheries, aquaculture and coastal communities - for obtaining sustained production of seafood in the United States. The concepts of carrying capacity for biological activities in  a hydrographic system; ecological balance between primary producers, primary and secondary consumers; and nutrient flows in ecosystems are essential elements for the future development of world aquaculture and fisheries.

This chapter documents the present status of selected polyculture systems being employed by the aquaculture industry, provides examples of balanced ecosystem approaches to aquaculture and fisheries, and examines the question of how to develop models for maximizing the production of seafood through fisheries and aquaculture working in harmony to minimize environmental impacts.