Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) provides the byproducts, including waste, from one aquatic species as inputs (fertilizers, food) for another. Farmers combine fed aquaculture (e.g., fish, shrimp) with inorganic extractive (e.g., seaweed) and organic extractive (e.g., shellfish) aquaculture to create balanced systems for environment remediation (biomitigation), economic stability (improved output, lower cost, product diversification and risk reduction) and social acceptability (better management practices). Selecting appropriate species and sizing the various populations to provide necessary ecosystem functions allows the biological and chemical processes involved to achieve a stable balance, mutually benefiting the organisms and improving ecosystem health. Ideally, the co-cultured species each yield valuable commercial "crops". IMTA can synergistically increase total output, even if some of the crops yield less than they would, short-term, in a monoculture. "Integrated" refers to intensive and synergistic cultivation, using water-borne nutrient and energy transfer. "Multi-trophic" means that the various species occupy different trophic levels, i.e., different (but adjacent) links in the food chain. IMTA is a specialized form of the age-old practice of aquatic polyculture, which was the co-culture of various species, often without regard to trophic level. In this broader case, the organisms may share biological and chemical processes that may be minimally complementary, potentially leading to reduced production of both species due to competition for the same food resource. However, some traditional systems such as polyculture of carps in China employ species that occupy multiple niches within the same pond, or the culture of fish that is integrated with a terrestrial agricultural species, can be considered forms of IMTA. The more general term "Integrated Aquaculture" is used to describe the integration of monocultures through water transfer between the culture systems.