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Discover Florida Aquaculture
Aquaculture is the process of farming or growing animals and plants in a controlled water environment. Florida’s five main farm-raised aquatic products are tropical fish, aquatic plants, food fish, shellfish and alligators. Florida plays an important role in the production of tropical fish and aquatic plants. It is the number one producer of aquarium fish in the United States. The world wide aquaculture industry is continually exploring the feasibility of farming many other marine and freshwater organisms.
Due to the increasing global demand, edible farm-raised aquatic products are the fastest growing sector in world food production. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projects that the world will need 40 million tons of farm-raised products per year by 2030 to meet the increasing demand for seafood. Fish farming supplements the wild seafood harvests and plays an important role in meeting the dietary needs of an increasingly health-conscious and growing population.
In 2005, the United States fish and aquatic product farms sales reached $1.1 billion. Florida aquaculture is ranked high in the United States with over $75 million in annual sales and over 3,000 water acres dedicated to production in 2005. Aquaculture has a number of business advantages. Growers can control a uniform size and quantity of their product. The supply of the product can be easier to maintain to help achieve a desirable price structure. Selective breeding and feeding can be used to increase disease resistance and growth rates.
