Fisheries and Aquaculture
Fish have great significance in the life of mankind, being an important natural source of protein and providing certain other useful products as well as economic sustenance to many nations. The gradual erosion of commercial fish stocks due to over -exploitation and alteration of the habitat is one reason why the science fish biology came into existence. It is a well-known fact that the knowledge on fish biology particularly on morphometry, length-weight relationship, condition factor, reproduction, food and feeding habit, etc. is of utmost important not only to fill up the lacuna of our present day academic knowledge but also in the utility of the knowledge in increasing the technological efficiencies of the fishery entrepreneurs for evolving judicious pisciculture management.
Illustrated Handbook of Fish Biology and Fisheries gives you a clear and concise introduction to the study of fishes and provides you with tools that you need to succeed in this field.
The supplies of fish in the world’s vast oceans once seemed inexhaustible. In the past three decades, production and consumption of fish have risen so dramatically that the world’s wild fisheries may fall victim to their own success. Meanwhile, the growing aquaculture industry has attempted to fill the gap between supply and demand. But as the global appetite for fish continues to increase, current trends in the fish sector pose serious risks to the environment, to the well-being of poor people, and to the viability of the fish sector itself. Small-scale fisheries and aquaculture make critical contributions to development in the areas of employment, with over 41 million people worldwide, the vast majority of whom live in developing countries, working in fish production; food security and nutrition, with fish constituting an important source of nutrients for the poor and often being the cheapest form of animal protein; and trade, with a third of fishery commodity production in developing countries destined for export. With most capture fisheries worldwide considered fully exploited or overexploited, aquaculture will be central to meeting fish demand, which will continue to increase with population growth, rising incomes and increasing urbanization.
This Illustrated Handbook of Fish Biology and Fisheries is an ideal text for students of fish biology and any of the branches of aquatic biology; it presents an introductory overview of the functional biology of fish and how that may be affected by the contrasting habitat conditions within the aquatic environment.
The importance of some knowledge of the natural history and ecology of organisms affecting the particular fishery cannot be overestimated. Such knowledge is largely the basis for fishery regulation. It also helps in determining the need to improve a given environment and in the required direction. The fundamental principles of artificial propagation of fish rest upon a prior understanding of life of fishes in their natural surroundings.