CHAPTER 9 : APPROACHES TO AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA
Thursday 10 December 2015 @ 02:10

NEW AGRICULTURAL SECTOR : AQUACULTURE
1. DEFINITION OF AQUACULTURE
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. 
Broadly speaking, the relation of aquaculture to finfish and shellfish fisheries is analogous to the relation of agriculture to hunting and gathering. Mariculture refers to aquaculture practiced in marine environments and in underwater habitats.

2. SPECIES GROUPS INVOLVED IN AQUACULTURE
     i. AQUATIC PLANTS
Microalgae, also referred to as phytoplankton, microphytes, or planktonic algae constitute the majority of cultivated algae. Macroalgae, commonly known as seaweed, also have many commercial and industrial uses, but due to their size and specific requirements, they are not easily cultivated on a large scale and are most often taken in the wild.

   ii. FISH
The farming of fish is the most common form of aquaculture. It involves raising fish commercially in tanks, ponds, or ocean enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases juvenile fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species' natural numbers is generally referred to as a fish hatchery. Worldwide, the most important fish species used in fish farming are, in order, carp, salmon, tilapia and catfish. In the Mediterranean, young bluefin tuna are netted at sea and towed slowly towards the shore. They are then interned in offshore pens where they are further grown for the market. In 2009, researchers in Australia managed for the first time to coax tuna (Southern bluefin) to breed in landlocked tanks.

   iii. CRUSTACEANS
Commercial shrimp farming began in the 1970s, and production grew steeply thereafter. Global production reached more than 1.6 million tonnes in 2003, worth about 9 billion U.S. dollars. About 75% of farmed shrimp is produced in Asia, in particular in China and Thailand. The other 25% is produced mainly in Latin America, where Brazil is the largest producer. Thailand is the largest exporter. Shrimp farming has changed from its traditional, small-scale form in Southeast Asia into a global industry. Technological advances have led to ever higher densities per unit area, and broodstock is shipped worldwide. Virtually all farmed shrimp are penaeids (i.e., shrimp of the family Penaeidae), and just two species of shrimp, the Pacific white shrimp and the giant tiger prawn, account for about 80% of all farmed shrimp. These industrial monocultures are very susceptible to disease, which has decimated shrimp populations across entire regions. Increasing ecological problems, repeated disease outbreaks, and pressure and criticism from both NGOs and consumer countries led to changes in the industry in the late 1990s and generally stronger regulations. In 1999, governments, industry representatives, and environmental organizations initiated a program aimed at developing and promoting more sustainable farming practices through the Seafood Watch program.

   iv. MOLLUSCS
Aquacultured shellfish include various oyster, mussel and clam species. These bivalves are filter and/or deposit feeders, which rely on ambient primary production rather than inputs of fish or other feed. As such shellfish aquaculture is generally perceived as benign or even beneficial. Depending on the species and local conditions, bivalve molluscs are either grown on the beach, on longlines, or suspended from rafts and harvested by hand or by dredging. Abalone farming began in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Japan and China. Since the mid-1990s, this industry has become increasingly successful. Over-fishing and poaching have reduced wild populations to the extent that farmed abalone now supplies most abalone meat. Sustainably farmed molluscs can be certified by Seafood Watch and other organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). WWF initiated the "Aquaculture Dialogues" in 2004 to develop measurable and performance-based standards for responsibly farmed seafood. In 2009, WWF co-founded the Aquaculture Stewardship Council with the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) to manage the global standards and certification programs.


 3. AQUACULTURE IN MALAYSIA
From its beginning in the 1920’s, aquaculture in Malaysia has developed quickly and is now an important activity. Several culture practices are used. Brackish water aquaculture is the predominant practice, but there is also freshwater pond aquaculture and marine aquaculture. A wide variety of species is cultured, including shellfish, freshwater species and marine finfish. Aquaculture is becoming important as a way of increasing local production for food security and increasing export revenues. The sector has become a priority area in the government’s most recent policy programme for 1998-2010. The aim by 2010 is to increase aquaculture production by 200 percent. However, difficulties in land acquisition, rising production costs, lack of skilled labour and threat of diseases are obstacles which impede the development of aquaculture. Research is being given priority due to the importance of aquaculture as an alternative source of fish supply.


Aquaculture in Malaysia began in the 1920’s with extensive polyculture in ex-mining pools of introduced Chinese carps, mainly the bighead carp ( Hypophthalmichthys nobilis ), silver carp ( Hypophthalmichthys molitrix ) and grass carp ( Ctenopharyngodon idellus ). In the mid 1930’s, marine shrimp trapping ponds were first developed in Johore, the southern state of Peninsular Malaysia. In the early 1940’s, the culture of blood cockles (Anadara granosa) began. This was followed in the mid 1950’s by the extensive culture of freshwater fish in earthen ponds.

In the early 1970’s, great changes in aquaculture began to take place, when the semi-intensive culture of shrimp was developed in Johore. Shrimp culture was characterized by very low stocking density combined with pond fertilization. During the same period, floating net cage culture of marine fish, mainly the green grouper (Epinephelus coioides), began to take place, followed by the raft culture of green mussels. By the early 1990’s, aquaculture activities were further enhanced with the introduction of intensive commercial aquaculture with very high stocking density and complete dependence on supplementary feeding. Commercial aquaculture was made possible through the establishment of government and privately owned fish and shrimp hatcheries, which started in the 1980’s. The setting up of private feed mills in the 1980’s also contributed to the commercialization of aquaculture.

The aquaculture sector has recorded an annual growth rate of about 10 percent in the last 5 years. It has now grown into a lucrative and sustainable industry, associated with the culture of high value species, mainly shrimp, marine fish and high value freshwater fish.