aquaculture

noun aqua·cul·ture \ ˈä-kwə-ˌkəl-chər , ˈa- \

variants: or less commonly aquiculture

|Updated on: 20 Jun 2018

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of aquaculture

: the cultivation of aquatic organisms (such as fish or shellfish) especially for food

—

aquacultural

play \ˌä-kwə-ˈkəl-ch(ə-)rəl, ˌa-\ adjective

—

aquaculture

transitive verb

—

aquaculturist

play \-ch(ə-)rist\ noun

See aquaculture defined for kids

Recent Examples of aquaculture from the Web

In addition to maintaining an aquaculture system and growing fruit trees, grapes, tea and other crops, the Hood River students have a perennial challenge from their teacher Michael Becker: to grow tomatoes year-round.

— chris berdik, WIRED, "Solar Panels Power New Schools—and New Ways of Learning," 6 June 2018
Cooke, based in New Brunswick, Canada, is one of the largest aquaculture companies in the world, with operations in six countries and about 6,000 employees.

— lynda v. mapes, The Seattle Times, "Restocking Atlantic salmon pens blocked by court," 13 Apr. 2018
That extra exposure can have detrimental effects on the health of the ecosystem and the economic benefits, such as fisheries and aquaculture, derived from it.

— Smithsonian, "Ocean Heatwaves Are Getting Longer and More Intense," 2 June 2018
Currently, expanding agriculture and aquaculture pose the greatest risks; in the future the leading risk factor for many birds may be climate change.

— tim graham, National Geographic, "Around the World, Farmland Birds Are in Steep Decline," 1 June 2018
In addition, Ward said, research like this can influence eelgrass restoration efforts and the future of aquaculture such as oyster farming.

— hillary davis, latimes.com, "Researchers in Newport optimistic that eelgrass can reduce carbon and acidity in seawater," 30 May 2018
Scientists used cages to transplant clean mussels from an aquaculture source on Whidbey Island to 18 urbanized locations around Puget Sound.

— christina capatides, CBS News, "Mussels off the coast of Seattle test positive for opioids," 24 May 2018
Louisiana's House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment overturned a decision by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission Tuesday (May 1) that would have opened the door to aquaculture of a Russian fish.

— sara sneath, NOLA.com, "State committee overturns approval to farm Russian fish," 1 May 2018
America’s only significant state fishery for baby eels has blown past records for value in spring 2018, as high demand from overseas aquaculture companies is driving prices to new heights.

— Washington Post, "Eels break records in Maine, where they sell for big money," 20 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'aquaculture.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

For most of the modern history of aquaculture, only costly fish and shellfish like salmon and shrimp were harvested. But new technologies are allowing cheaper and more efficient cultivation of fish for food, and such common fish as cod are now being farmed. Seaweeds and other algae are also being grown--for food (mostly in Asia), cattle feed, fertilizer, and experimentally as a source of energy. Aquaculture is now the world's fastest-growing form of food production.