Levels of domestication in fish: implications for the sustainable future of aquaculture
The agricultural world today is dominated by a few domesticated mammal species, that is, animals modified from their wild ancestors through selective breeding in captivity for traits beneficial to human usages. As a result, a clear dichotomy exists between wild (from hunting) and domesticated mam...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://umt-ir.umt.edu.my:8080/handle/123456789/21533 |
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| Summary: | The agricultural world today is dominated by a few domesticated mammal species, that
is, animals modified from their wild ancestors through selective breeding in captivity for
traits beneficial to human usages. As a result, a clear dichotomy exists between wild
(from hunting) and domesticated mammals (produced in farms) used for human
consumption. Similar to agriculture, aquaculture is often viewed as the only solution
that can provide more fish products given that harvesting wild stocks have reached an
upper limit. Aquaculture is considerably younger than agriculture relying on natural
sources to farm numerous species. To better describe the diverse strategies for fish production,
we propose a new classification comprising five levels of ‘domestication’ with 1
being the least to 5 being the most domesticated. Our classification places 70% of the
250 farmed finfish species recorded in the 2009 FAO database into levels 1, 2 and 3
representing a transitory form of fish production dependent on the availability of the
wild resource. In contrast, only a few species, or more accurately populations, can be
considered truly domesticated, similar to cattle or sheep. Based on this classification,
two scenarios for the future of aquaculture are discussed: either the industry focuses on
few truly domesticated species, similar to the path taken by agriculture, but avoiding its
negative impacts or aquaculture proceeds with inter-specific diversification by focusing
primarily on the domestication of native species. |
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