Aquaculture of detritivorous fish in China: status and perspective.

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this review is to give a description of aquaculture of detritivorous fish in China. China has a long history of using aquaculture. With the increasing demand for fishery products, intensive aquaculture has been encouraged to a great degree, which has also led to a series of environmental, technical and social problems. Besides physical, chemical and mechanical removal of waste by sedimentation and microsieving, a biologically and technically feasible method called integrated aquaculture has been proposed to reduce environmental impacts. Bivalve molluscs, seaweeds and detritivorous fish are considered as suitable subjects for integrated culture. A model showed that sedimentary N decreased from 37% of the total original nutrients to 8.5% after the introduction of bivalve molluscs and seaweeds into aquaculture. Four detritivorous fish, Plagiognathops microlepis , Xenocypris davidi , Squaliobarbus curriculus and Liza haematocheila , are now used in aquaculture in China. To determine the most suitable initial integrated culture level of detritivorous fingerlings, a dynamic model was constructed based on a computer simulation method according to the following principle: the level of scavenging by detritivorous fish equals the level of waste left by the main culture object. Selecting suitable detritivorous fish species, solving the technical problems of artificial propagation and determining the initial culture level of selected species are three key problems associated with maintaining an effective integrated aquaculture system. Raising awareness about the importance of 'clean' aquaculture and performing corresponding scientific research should be encouraged.