AQUACULTURE. Aquaculture, the controlled or semi-controlled production of aquatic plants and animals, has increased at double-digit percentage rates since the early 1980s. This increase has been in response to declines in commercial harvests of wild stocks of fish and shellfish. Oceans of the world are currently at maximum sustainable yield. Since the late 1980s, there has been a concerted effort to maintain global commercial harvest of ocean fish at approximately 100 million metric tons (mmt). However, as global population grows, demand for fish and shellfish increases, and the percentage of aquatic products grown in aquaculture must likewise rise to meet the supply of those products. Projections for increased production are in the range of 40–100 mmt of new aquaculture production by about the year 2030. The lower range assumes only increases in world population; the upper figure represents increases in world population plus a...