Domestication of Marine Fish Species: Update and Perspectives

• Main Author: Fabrice Teletchea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2015-10-01
• Series: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
• Subjects: domestication level; wild; domesticated; marine fish species; capture-based aquaculture; bottlenecks
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/3/4/1227

Domestication is a long and endless process during which animals become, generations after generations, more adapted to both captive conditions and humans. Compared to land animals, domestication of fish species has started recently. This implies that most farmed marine fish species have only changed slightly from their wild counterparts, and production is based partly or completely on wild inputs. In the past decades, global marine fish production has increased tremendously, particularly since the 1990s, to reach more than 2.2 million tons in 2013. Among the 100 marine fish species listed in the FAO’s database in 2013, 35 are no longer produced, and only six have a production higher than 100,000 tons. The top ten farmed marine species accounted for nearly 90% of global production. The future growth and sustainability of mariculture will depend partly on our ability to domesticate (i.e., control the life cycle in captivity) of both currently farmed and new species.