Marine Integrated Aquaculture
Kevin Fitzsimmons, Ph.D.
Professor, University of Arizona
American Soybean Association
Past President – World Aquaculture Society
Karachi, Pakistan
9 March, 2012
Overview
 Global
perspective on sustainable aquaculture
 Production systems
 Polyculture of fish, bivalves, seaweeds, and
crustaceans
 Future trends
Several models
Fish
and seaweed in cages
Seaweeds in shrimp pond
Fish in cages in shrimp farm
supply reservoirs
Fish and shrimp in crop rotation
Tilapia to treat/re-use shrimp
effluent
Tilapia - shrimp polyculture
Philippines - Early adoption of
polyculture
 Severe
disease outbreaks in shrimp
industry in 1990’s
 Major producer of tilapia
 Developed tilapia-shrimp polyculture
system on Negros Island
 Crop-rotation, tilapia in cages/hapas, and
tilapia in reservoir
 Have been operating for 10+ years
Tilapia-shrimp farm in Sonora, Mexico
Fish-shrimp production in
Ecuador and Peru
Supplementing
shrimp because
of white spot and other shrimp
diseases
Crop rotation, tilapia in supply
reservoirs
Using shrimp infrastructure
Exporting tilapia to US and EU
Tilapia production in Ecuador
and shrimp viral infections
TILAPIA PRODUCTION IN ECUADOR
30,000
Production (m t)
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
White Spot
5,000
Taura
IHHN
0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
Year
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
Tilapia production in outside
ponds with shrimp in covered
ponds (Ecuador)
Tilapia-shrimp-halophytes
Eritrea
Salicornia
Mangroves
Mangroves
Salicornia
Shrimp / tilapia ponds
Shrimp-fish
systems
Tilapia cages in shrimp
pond, Thailand
Tilapia hapa in shrimp
pond, Thailand
Brackish water fish – seaweeds and bivalves
Snapper, seabass,
grouper cage
effluents (feed and
feces) fertilize
seaweed and feed
filter feeding
bivalves
Thailand experimental
polyculture systems at AIT
 Shrimp
survival - 90%
 Shrimp yield - 3,000 kg/ha
 Tilapia survival - > 90%
 Tilapia yield - 1,500 kg/ha
 Tilapia growth - 10g to 300g in 10 weeks
 Shrimp survival and yield was lower in
monoculture control
Seaweed and Mud crabs
Gracilaria
Shrimp
Tilapia
Seaweed, milkfish and shrimp
polyculture
 Fresh
Gracilaria from the tilapia-shrimp pond
Mechanisms
– supports gram positive bacteria
 Fish activity increases green algae bloom
while maintaining levels of other types of
algae
 Bio-manipulators of sediments
- Oxidize wastes
- Disturb life-cycle of pathogens and vectors
 Mucus
Marine Integrated Aquaculture
 Shrimp
seaweeds, bivalves, cucumbers, urchins
 Fish
seaweeds, bivalves, tunicates
 Abalone
seaweeds
 Mud crabs
seaweeds, fish, shrimp
Grouper and Snappers → seaweeds, inverts
 Groupers
and
snappers in cages
release dissolved
nutrients (N, P, K,
Fe, CO2, etc.) and
suspended solids
(feed, feces,
phytoplankton) to
be consumed by
seaweed, bivalves,
and sea urchins
Floating feeds
Conclusions
 Improved
production systems with more
sustainability.
 Protection of the environment
 More economic benefit for aquatic farmers.