Aquaculture is the farming and husbandry of aquatic organisms under controlled or semicontrolled conditions. These organisms may be plants, fish or shellfish oysters, mussels, clams, shrimp, crabs, crawfish. Aquaculture is employed for a variety of ends: fish may be raised to stock public waters for sportfishing and for commercial fishing; it may be to save an endangered species; or it may be to harvest a commercially viable crop in ponds or coastal waters. In simple terms, aquaculture is agriculture: the farmer farms the water instead of the land; depending on the species, the water may be fresh or brackish or salty. Although aquaculture is a generic term, it generally refers to the culture of plants and animals in freshwater, while culture in saltwater is commonly known as mariculture.

Address: P.O. Box 169, Queenstown, MD 21658
Telephone: (410) 827-8056
Website: http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/programs/extension/aquaculture/finfish/factsheets/FF6/