Elisa Livengood

Map of Domestication

DefinitionDomestication: To train or adapt a plant or

animal to live in a human environment making it fit for cultivation. This can be done by having humans intervene in the breeding of plants or animals and selecting traits that are of use to the human.

History of DomesticationDevelopments accelerated during the

Neolithic period (8,000-3,00 B.C.) as environmental conditions become more favorable.

Animal husbandry evolved from herding and penning wild animals.

Required keeping animals for many generations until significant changes were made to behavioral, physical, and genetic attributes as selected for by humans.

History of DomesticationDog -10,000-8,000 B.C. Goat -8,000-7,000Sheep- 8,000-7,000Pig- 7,000Cattle -6,400Horse- 4,000Camel- 2,600Cat 1600-500Fish- Many species still not considered fully domesticated

© Elisa Livengood

© Elisa Livengood

Dog Breeds

Fish can also be domesticated. One of the oldest know domesticated species is Koi or Cyprinus carpio (pictured top right).

Like the dog they can have many varieties; it depends on what traits were selected.

Another species with great variation and mutation in their varieties or strains include the Discus fish (Symphysodon sp.)

© Calypso Acuario

AquacultureWhat is aquaculture?

-Aquaculture is agriculture. Farming in water.- Requires domestication of a plant or animal for production.

Aquaculture/AgricultureDomestication: where breeding is controlled

and animals are selected for particular qualities.

Aquaculture production is achieved by human intervention involving physical control of the organism at some point in its life cycle other than harvest.

History of AquacultureEvidence of Egyptians doing

pond culture (2052-1786 B.C.)Romans kept eel and

cultivated in ponds or cisterns connected to their homes.

The Hawaiian people practiced aquaculture by constructing fish ponds, an example from ancient Hawaii is a pond at Alekoko dating back at least 1000 years.

Japanese began farming oysters about 3,000 years ago.

A picture of modern extensive aquaculture. © Elisa Livengood

History of AquacultureGive a man a fish and he will have food for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will have food for a

lifetime. ~ Chinese proverb.NOW we should addTeach a man how to grow fish and he can feed the

world. Also biblical reference to pondsAnd they shall be broken in the purposes thereof,

all that make sluices and ponds for fish (Isaiah, Ch. 19 vs. 10).

Why do fish represent a great species for agriculture?

Animal Protein % in Feed Weight gain per g of food consumed

Protein gain per g of protein consumed

Channel Catfish 32 0.84 0.36 Broiler Chicken 18 0.48 0.33 Beef Cattle 11 0.13 0.15

•Fish have a higher FCR than other animals•Fish culture can utilize resources unsuitable for other forms of agriculture (i.e. salinized farmlands).•Fish production systems use less water than pigs, grain fed cattle, beef cattle and broiler chickens.

-Recirculating system 1,419 L/kg-Catfish pond systems 6,737 L/kg-Striped bass flow thru system 131,538 L/kg

•Cost of production becoming more profitable than wild caught•Public acceptability for the product.

Criteria for Selecting a SpeciesHardinessFecundity (high reproductive success)Early Sexual MaturityHigh Meat/Protein ContentMarket ValueEase for culture (e.g., life cycle established,

larval feeds available, domesticity)