Fish species commercially farmed around the world — covering key farmed species, farming methods, sustainability certifications, and food safety guidance.
No species match your current filters.
Clear FiltersAquaculture - the farming of fish, shellfish, algae, and other aquatic organisms - has become one of the most significant food production systems on Earth. For the first time in history, more fish and seafood consumed globally now comes from farms than from wild capture fisheries. The FAO's State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture reports that aquaculture production first overtook wild catch for direct human consumption in 2014, a milestone that marks a fundamental shift in how humanity feeds itself from the water. This transition carries enormous consequences for food security, environmental sustainability, rural livelihoods in developing countries, and the future of the world's wild fish populations - consequences that are complex, context-dependent, and sometimes deeply contested.
Aquaculture is far older than most people realise. The earliest documented fish farming practices date to China approximately 4,000 years ago, where carp - specifically common carp (Cyprinus carpio) - were cultured in earthen ponds. Fan Li, a Chinese statesman writing around 475 BCE, authored what may be the world's oldest aquaculture manual, describing carp pond management practices. Ancient Hawaiian communities developed sophisticated fishpond systems (loko iʻa) along coastal shorelines, using rock walls and sluice gates to trap and grow mullet and milkfish. Roman aristocrats maintained elaborate piscinae (fish ponds) stocked with prized moray eels, sea bream, and mullet as status symbols.
Modern industrial aquaculture developed primarily in the second half of the 20th century, driven by the development of commercial pellet feeds, selective breeding programmes, veterinary medicine for aquatic species, and engineering advances that allowed net pen culture in open marine environments. Norwegian Atlantic salmon farming - now the world's largest marine aquaculture industry by value - began in the 1970s with small family operations and scaled to a global industry producing over 2.5 million tonnes annually by the 2020s, with farms operating from Norway to Chile, Canada to Tasmania.
Pond aquaculture remains the most common system globally by volume, particularly in Asia. Traditional earthen ponds range from small subsistence operations in rural Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to large commercial operations of many hectares. Pond culture is flexible, relatively low-tech, and can integrate with agriculture - rice-fish farming, where fish are grown in flooded rice paddies, is practiced across millions of hectares in Asia and simultaneously produces rice, fish protein, and pest control while reducing the need for pesticides.
Marine net pen aquaculture (open-water cage culture) dominates the production of high-value salmonids (Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout) and marine finfish (sea bream, sea bass, amberjack, grouper). Fish are held in large floating net enclosures anchored in sheltered marine bays or fjords, fed pellet diets, and harvested after 12–24 months of grow-out. This system achieves high production density but faces significant environmental challenges including waste accumulation under pens, sea lice infestations that can spread to wild salmon, and escape events.
Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) represent the technological frontier of fish farming. In RAS, fish are held in indoor tanks with water continuously filtered, treated, and recirculated. Water use is reduced by 95–99% compared to flow-through systems; fish can be grown near consumption markets regardless of climate; biosecurity is complete; and no effluent reaches natural water bodies. RAS has become economically viable for Atlantic salmon at commercial scale in the 2010s–2020s, with large facilities operating in Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United States growing salmon to market size without ocean pens. The energy intensity of RAS systems remains a challenge and an area of active engineering improvement.
The environmental footprint of aquaculture varies enormously by species and system. Filter-feeding bivalves (oysters, mussels, clams) require no supplemental feed - they filter phytoplankton from the surrounding water and actually improve water quality by removing excess nutrients and particulate matter. They represent possibly the most environmentally beneficial form of animal protein production available. Seaweed aquaculture similarly requires no feed inputs and sequesters carbon while producing high-value biomass.
Carnivorous species like Atlantic salmon and bluefin tuna present more complex sustainability challenges. Salmon diets historically relied heavily on fishmeal and fish oil derived from small pelagic fish (anchovies, herrings, sand lance) - creating a paradox where farming one species of fish required catching several other species to produce its feed. This "fish-in, fish-out" ratio was historically as high as 5:1 for salmon but has been dramatically reduced through the development of plant-based feed ingredients, single-cell protein, insect meal, and algae-derived omega-3 oils. Modern salmon diets achieve fish-in, fish-out ratios below 1:1 in the best operations.
Disease management in high-density aquaculture settings requires careful attention. Sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) infestations are the primary health challenge in Atlantic salmon farming, historically managed with chemical treatments that can affect other crustaceans. Integrated Pest Management approaches using cleaner fish (wrasse and lumpfish species that eat lice from salmon), underwater lighting to deter lice, and deep-diving salmon to escape near-surface lice have substantially reduced chemical treatment rates in leading salmon-farming nations.
The role of aquaculture in global food security cannot be overstated. In Bangladesh, the world's third-largest aquaculture producer by volume, fish farming in floodplain systems supports the livelihoods of millions of rural households and provides the primary source of animal protein for a population of 170 million. In China, which produces approximately 60% of the world's farmed fish and shellfish, aquaculture is a critical component of agricultural policy and food sovereignty. Across sub-Saharan Africa, small-scale aquaculture development is increasingly seen as a pathway to improve both rural income and child nutrition in regions with high rates of protein deficiency.
The future of aquaculture will be shaped by continuing technological innovation - in genetics (selective breeding and genomic selection to improve growth rates, disease resistance, and feed conversion), in feed technology (diversifying protein and lipid sources away from marine ingredients), and in production systems (RAS enabling geographical flexibility and environmental control). The species under culture are expanding too - new species entering commercial production include kingfish (Seriola spp.), cobia, barramundi, and various grouper species. As wild fishery production has plateaued and is unlikely to increase significantly, aquaculture must supply essentially all the growth in global seafood demand over coming decades.