Engineering Design of a Commercial Spotted Seatrout Recirculating Aquaculture Production System

摘要

The United States (US) trade deficit for edible seafood products was $9.1 billion in 2006, a year in which the US produced only about $1 billion worth of aquaculture products and imports made up over 80% of the US edible seafood supply (NOAA, 2007). In 2006, FAO reported that nearly half of all fish consumed as a food source worldwide were produced by aquaculture, as compared to only 9% in 1980 (FAO, 2007). The same report also estimated that due to a variety of factors, including overfishing, wild fisheries were incapable of sustaining current production and that worldwide aquaculture production would need to double by 2050 to simply maintain current per capita consumption levels.