The total harvest of the world Capture fishery reached a maximum leve1 in 1989
(New, 1991) and has recently entered a period of decline (Garcia and Newton, 1!994),
brought about by multiple factors including increased demand, development of wide
ranging fishing and processing vessels (Larkin, 19911, environmental degradation and
climate change. Aquaculture is increasingly recognized as a sustainable means of
producing high quality aquatic foods for human consumption. Production bas increased
rapidly during the last decade and especially over the last half decade to the extent that
aquaculture now accounts for over 20% of the world production of aquatic foods of
marine and fresh water origin