Applications of Fishery Biology Data for Mariculture In: ICAR Sponsored Winter School on Recent Advances in Fishery Biology Techniques for Biodiversity Evaluation and Conservation, 1-21 December 2018, Kochi.

Fish production was previously heavily dependent upon capture fishery and in particular the marine resources. However, the capture fishery cannot be expected to be a perennial protein donor. Moreover, a substantial portion of the marine catch is being utilized for making industrial products which are not directly consumed by man. Therefore, a viable alternative by which fish production could be increased through a popularized bio technique, called aquaculture. Aquaculture may be defined as the “farming and husbandry of economically important aquatic animals and plants under controlled conditions”. The aquaculture sector is indeed remarkable for its diversity in operations, encompassing a very wide range of farming practices, species, environments and production systems, often with very distinct resource use patterns. The sector is also highly fragmented, ranging from smallholder ponds or cages providing a few kilos of fish per year to international companies with annual turnover in excess of USD1 billion. Indeed, despite having achieved good progress in terms of expansion, intensification and diversification, the aquaculture sector is confronted with a set of key issues and challenges that needs to be proactively addressed in order to contribute to green growth. In order to develop a sustainable aquaculture practice the various aspects to be carefully studied include: 1. Site selection, 2. Species selection, 3. Selection of culture types based on many factors as species combinations like monoculture, poly culture etc., culture systems like static systems like pond culture, tank culture or running water systems like race ways, cage culture systems or circulatory systems etc. all these requires a thorough knowledge on the biology of the species to be cultured. The following general factors should be considered when selecting a species for a successful aquaculture venture