Food safety and products from aquaculture

Aquaculture is currently one of the fastest growing food production systems in the world with production increasing at an average rate of 9.6% per yea r over the past decade. As world fish stocks are reaching the limits of exp loitation, we shall rely to a far greater extent on products from aquacultu re as food sources of high nutritional value. Approximately 90% of global a quaculture production is based in Asia, where it provides an important sour ce of dietary animal protein of the region and income for millions of small -scale farmers. Commercial aquaculture contributes significantly to the eco nomies of many producing countries, where highly valued species are a major source of foreign. Many different aquaculture systems exist world wide, ranging from small fam ily-sized fish ponds to intensive cage culture industries as used in salmon fishing. There has been an expansion in the use of integrated farming systems, espec ially in Asia, where animal and human faeces are used to fertilise ponds. This paper will review global aquaculture systems used in the production of finfish and crustaceans and will focus on potential hazards arising from b iological contamination of products that pose risks to public health.