GLOBAL AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION AND ITS IMPACT TO BIODIVERSITY

Authors

Keywords:

aquaculture production, biodiversity loss, factor analysis, principal components

Abstract

This paper examines trends in aquaculture production in selected countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and South America and infer from these trends where biodiversity loss would be most observed and least observed. This study made use of the descriptive research design utilizing secondary data obtained from Food and Agriculture Organization. The data consists of the annual aquaculture production from 1960 to 2014 from several countries worldwide. Ten (10) countries were randomly chosen to represent each of the continents of Asia, South America, North America, Europe and Africa. The graphical presentations showed where the highest increases in aquaculture production would most likely occur. This information was then utilized as a basis for inferring the state of biodiversity loss in the various continents. Results revealed that aquaculture production increases in Asia are about seven times more than the production in other continents. Likewise, intensified aquaculture production implies magnification of six (6) newly-identified threats to biodiversity. As a result, countries in Asia are seven times more vulnerable to biodiversity loss than in any other continents despite the fact that Asia is home to majority of the earth’s floral and faunal species.

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Published

2017-12-22

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