State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2004 - Library

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The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2004
still substantial, was lower than those experienced over the past 20 years. Aquaculture
production in terms of quantity and value for major species groups in 2002 is presented
in Figure 11.
The top ten species groups in terms of production quantity and percentage increase
in production quantity from 2000 to 2002 are presented in Table 6. Production of
carps and other cyprinids far exceeded that for all other species groups, accounting
for nearly 42 percent (16.7 million tonnes) of total production of fish, crustaceans and
molluscs. Combined, the top ten species groups accounted for 92.5 percent of the total
aquaculture production of fish, crustaceans and molluscs. The largest production for an
individual species was the Pacific cupped oyster (Crassostrea gigas – 4.2 million tonnes),
followed by three species of carp – the silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix
– 4.1 million tonnes), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus – 3.6 million tonnes) and
common carp (Cyprinus carpio – 3.2 million tonnes).
Two high-value species of finfish appear in the top ten species groups in Table 6,
with the largest percentage increases in production reflecting emerging activities. First,
farming of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) has begun in Norway and Iceland. Second, the
aquaculture of wild-caught tuna by fattening in sea-cages is an increasingly important