Rapid population growth and increased competition for land and water have already affected the ability of agriculture as well as aquaculture production. There is an ever increasing demand for water in aquaculture. The effects of climate change are a further threat to global food production by the growing demand for water. With these views, I wonder whether aquaculture is an efficient farming system in terms of water use.
Water use efficiency varies under different agricultural water management systems
Recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS) are able to produce fish with very low water intake. Of course recirculation aquaculture is based on advanced water treatment technology and building and operation cost are higher compared to more extensive production systems. However, RAS provides opportunity to improve waste management and nutrient recycling, improved disease control and no threat of escapees. There are numerous interesting articles published on this topic especially in Aquacultural Engineering.
a complete training about RAS aquaculture is being given in RGCA, Tamilnadu , india.
Water sheets do bring down temperatures of surrounding areas.Aquaculture produces the cheapest animal protein in bulk,which is needed for upliftment of rural economy,especially for a country like Bangla desh. Aquaculture industry uses rural inputs & gives work to rural population. When both the major rivers like Ganga & Brahmaputra releases water in Bangla Desh, & when the Sundervans are a huge source of shrimp & fish seeds,aquaculture offers immense scope for rural development & supplement food to rural population. Today the country has caught up with major aquaculture producers of the globe & has a bright future in the industry.
With Aquaponics, combining aquaculture with hydroponics, water use is even more efficient than with RAS alone.
1 hectare of aquaculture ponds uses less water than 1 ha of corn. So even pond systems are not as water-consuming as one would think. However, as the others state, aquaculture can be even more water efficient- but at the cost of energy consumption.
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