Pros and Cons of Aquaculture

Pros Meets increasing consumer demand for seafood Does not contribute to declining wild fish stocks Independent of fisheries mismanagement Provides employment

Pros, cont’d Less bykill Less habitat degradation

Cons Fish escape (disease transmission to wild stock, competition with wild stock, genetics) Entanglement of wild creatures in aquaculture nets Uneaten food and feces the sinks below cage can suffocate benthic organisms and change water quality

Cons, cont’d Use of antibiotics may change the bacterial community around the cages Hard feelings in communities

Salmon Cages

Fish Diseases Sea lice

Fish Diseases

Age determination by rings on fish scales