BIODIVERSITY IN AQUATIC SYSTEMS IN RELATION TO AQUACULTURE

This paper first considers the perception and dimensions of biodiversi ty. We suggest that biodiversity can be viewed as a biospatial, hierar chically distributed structure of variability among living organisms w ith five levels of complexity (and including agricultural systems), Lo ss of biodiversity, value of biodiversity and knowledge of aquatic bio diversity are reviewed briefly. Methods for measuring biodiversity, es pecially at the genetic level, are discussed and considerable emphasis is laid on effective population size as a controlling factor in biodi versity. Finally, a range of impacts of aquaculture upon biodiversity are considered, including competitive and introgressive effects from f armed stocks. The development and use of reversibly sterile strains is seen as highly beneficial to both aquaculture and the maintenance of biodiversity.