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Started 2000 – 1000 B.C
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China was the cradle of the beginning of
aquaculture utilizing mainly the common
carp (Cyprinus carpio).
•
no records were available except the narratives handed down from one generation
to another especially those found in the seat of power during those
periods.
•
No detailed description of aquaculture practices was available during that early period.
•
500 B.C –
first record
•
Fan Lai (Chinese) wrote his book, "The Classic of Fish Culture".
•
It is the first to record and describe the;
– structure
of ponds,
– the
method of propagation of the common carp and
– the growth of fry.
•
500 B.C.- 500 A.D. - considered the Golden Age of common carp culture in China and in neighbouring
countries (where the Chinese people migrated)
•
progress
attained in the techniques of culture
•
scattered
records of the culture systems were made
•
the use of reservoirs
to hold fish was first described in the Indian sub-continent.
•
500 to 900 A.D. (Tang Dynasty in China) -
discovery of new aquaculture species
•
The reign of the Tang Dynasty is particularly
significant in the history of world aquaculture. The Tang emperor in China had
the family name of Li which happened
to be the common name of the widely-cultivated common carp.
•
Because of this coincidence, an imperial decree
was issued prohibiting the culture as
well as other activities connected with this fish. This decree, however,
instead of putting a constraint to the development of aquaculture turned to be
a blessing in disguise.
•
The Chinese people who were then at the time very much engrossed in fish
culture as a source of food and livelihood, looked for other species of fish for pond culture.
•
This resulted in the discovery of the silver carp, the big-head carp, the grass carp and the
mud carp, all very suitable pond culture species.
•
It was also found that when raised in
polyculture in the same pond, these species complement each other by eating different types of food and staying
in different environmental strata within the pond.
•
This led not only in the discovery of new species for culture but also in maximizing the productivity of
freshwater pond culture, 900 to 1900
A.D.
•
900 to 1120 (Sung Dynasty),
–
The initiative to collect fry of cultivable species seasonally along the
rivers was started
– Systematic
fry collection and dispersal in natural waters was highly developed
– In
India, work by Namasollasa was published. It presented a compilation describing
the fattening of fish in reservoirs.
–
In China, works
describing fry transport in bamboo baskets was published.
1300 to 1650 (Ming Dynasty). –
documentation of culture
methods/technologies
–
works describing the complete aquaculture
process were detailed. Methods for
culturing fry to adult, the structure of ponds, rearing density, polyculture,
stocking/catching rotation, application of food and fertilizer and disease control
were dealt with in aquaculture works during this period.
– brackish water aquaculture was recorded
as having been started in Indonesia.
– In
China, a complete Book of Agriculture which
included pond fish culture was released.
1640 to 1910 (Ching Dynasty). – spread to other places
•
Further
detailed description of fish culture methods were emphasized. This included
fry production, season of occurrence of
fry, differentiation and separation of fry and transport.
•
In the French
Indochinese countries, the waves of Chinese migration had influenced the
development of aquaculture. Due to the indigenous species in this area which
became of value to the native population, cage
culture of siluroids and related species developed independently and became
a distinct aquaculture practice in this area uptodate.
1900-1970
- Expansion in operation and breakthroughs in seed production
•
This period witnessed worldwide expansion of
aquaculture. Easy means of
communications and widespread
exchange of information through national and international agencies have
stimulated the acceleration of the expansion
in aquaculture.
•
The urgent need for seeds to fill the expanded aquaculture industry resulted in
technology breakthroughs in inducing the
spawning of cultivable species, the seeds or fry of which were only
formerly obtained from wild waters.
•
In this period the cultivated Asiatic carps and the Indian major carps were induced to
spawn under controlled conditions.
•
Likewise the penaeid shrimp species and the giant freshwater prawns used in
culture were also hatched under control
in hatcheries
1970
– to date
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Continued expansion and selective culture of high value and exportable species and
intensification
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In this period more species were brought into
culture. The industry continued to expand
both in area and in quantity of production
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A new trend to select species that are most profitable to culture was adopted by
operators in the industry.
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Penaeid
shrimps, high value fin fishes (seabass/groupers), seaweeds and related
species became important aquaculture items.
•
As demand
and high market value for selected species persisted, high technology methods and intensification of
operations became the norm of the industry.
•
There is competition
for major markets and maintenance of product quality standards also became
a major concern.
•
The major difference between the early forms of
aquaculture and much of the aquaculture practiced today is that aquaculture
in ancient times involved harvesting immature fish or shellfish and
transferring them to an artificially created environment that is favourable to
their growth
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