Editorial

Abstract

We are very pleased to present this introductory note on the occasion of the inauguration of Reviews in Aquaculture. We expect this new journal to fill a much needed niche and to provide a forum for the growing science of aquaculture. Aquaculture presently accounts for nearly 50% of all the seafood consumed globally, and this figure is expected to reach up to 60% by the year 2020. With the growing knowledge of the nutritional merits and health benefits that seafood consumption offers, its importance in the diets of peoples, irrespective from where they come, is gaining increasing importance and global significance. Aquaculture, though practiced as an art for more than 2500 years, has begun to be established as a major cash-earning food production sector in the past three decades or so, and with this establishment, the science of aquaculture has grown. In effect, the scientific inputs have enabled the sector to grow at a rate that over this period of time has been and still is the fastest growing primary food production sector. However, the rapid growth of the sector has had and continues to have its critics, from environmental, social and primary resources usage perspectives. Equally, with globalization and aquaculture commodities consequently becoming important traded commodities, major challenges of food quality standards and certification of produce and ecolabelling have also come to the forefront. As much as the productivity of the aquaculture sector grows, the science associated with these developments also continues to grow. Within this fast growth sphere there is an important need to review and synthesize the developments of the important key areas of scientific endeavour and their applications on a regular basis, in an accepted means of conveying a high volume of information in an easily accessible manner. The new journal Reviews in Aquaculture is launched with this objective, and will endeavour to fulfil a vacuum and help both practitioners and scientists.