Zootechnical Knowledge of floating cage aquaculture in freshwaters ecosystems and load capacity determination: Review

• Main Authors: R. Aïzonou, M.E. Achoh, I.A.C. Hountcheme, H. Agadjihouèdé, S. Ahouanssou-Montcho, E. Montchowui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-03-01
• Series: Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research
• Subjects: Fish Farm; Economic return; Cages; Freshwater; Load capacity
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1687428520300947

The global population is increasing and technical efforts have to be put in place to assure food security especially for the much needed animal protein for the growing human population. Several efforts are focused on fish production to cope with the demand. Research has been done in aquatic ecosystems by installing fish production infrastructures as well as floating cages. This review aims to examine the information available on floating cages in terms of density, feeding mode, economic profitability, socio-economic impact and load capacity determination model. Some keywords related to the topic were considered when using the scientific databases such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus and in the Researchgate database as well as Agora. A total of 65 important scientific manuscripts as material were used. From the review, it appears that the loading density in a floating cage depends on the species, the loading weight and on the water body. Feeding is based on food intake, while the optimization of natural food would significantly reduce the cost of production. Caged aquaculture contributes to food security and reduces youth unemployment. Economic profitability is a function of production factors, water quality and is strongly influenced by feed costs. It should be noted that any ecosystems awaiting exploitation for cage aquaculture must be subjected to carrying capacity determination and the best model for this determination is Dillon and Rigler (Dillon & Rigler, 1974). Therefore, studies on each species in a given ecosystem and research on the rate of ration and the appropriate frequency of feeding (due to the contribution of the natural food) are necessary to optimize fish yield at the level of each country.