Ecosystem Concepts for Sustainable Bivalve Mariculture

摘要

Almost 50% of all seafood eaten worldwide today is farm raised, compared to only 9% in 1980, primarily from the expansion of aquaculture in China (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2006). In the United States in 2007, mariculture--the cultivation of organisms in the marine environment--produced approximately 15,000 metric tons (meat weight) of bivalve molluscs, mostly oysters, clams, and mussels. Mariculture production of bivalve molluscs in the United States has roughly doubled over the past 25 years. Increasing domestic seafood production in the United States in an environmentally and socially responsible way will likely require the use of policy tools, such as best management practices (BMPs) and performance standards. These policy tools are commonly utilized to reduce effects associated with the use of natural resources in commercial activities like mariculture.