Mariculture
Also called: Marine aquaculture, Seaweed cultivation · Topic: Rural Development: Diversification, Allied Sectors and Organic Farming · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Mariculture is the farming of sea plants and animals in sea water. It is also called marine aquaculture (aquaculture means farming fish and other water species instead of catching them in the wild). Farmers raise fish, shellfish such as mussels and oysters, and seaweed in cages, on rafts or on ropes in the sea or along the coast. They then harvest them, as a farmer harvests a crop. Seaweed cultivation is one important type of mariculture. Mariculture matters because it adds to the fish supply without taking more wild stock from the sea, and it gives coastal households an extra income.
Example
Under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY, 2020), Lakshadweep has been notified as a Seaweed Cluster. A cluster is one place where facilities, finance and market links for a single product are brought together. Islanders grow seaweed in the lagoons and sell it for use in food, cosmetics and medicines. This gives them income that does not depend only on catching wild tuna.
Don't confuse with
- Capture fisheries: these harvest wild fish from the sea or rivers, for example tuna caught by pole and line. Mariculture raises the stock under human care.
- Inland aquaculture: this farms fish in fresh water, such as village ponds and tanks. Mariculture uses sea water.