Aquaculture glossary, A–Z.

Total ammonia nitrogen — a toxic nitrogen compound excreted by fish that must be converted to nitrate by a biofilter in RAS systems.

Aquaculture procurement is the structured sourcing of equipment, technology and EPC services for aquaculture projects — from single subsystems (biofilters, aerators, RAS loops) to full turnkey farms, hatcheries and processing plants.

Aquaculture project development is the structured process of taking a commercial fish, shrimp or processing project from concept to operations — covering site, permits, engineering, CAPEX/OPEX modelling, financing, EPC and commissioning.

Aquaculture Stewardship Council — third-party certification standard for responsibly farmed seafood.

Best Aquaculture Practices — Global Seafood Alliance certification covering farm, hatchery, feed mill and processing plant.

The nitrification loop in a RAS that converts ammonia to nitrite and then nitrate using bacteria on a plastic media bed.

Total live weight of fish or shrimp in a system, expressed in kg or tonnes.

The set of protocols, structures and inputs designed to keep pathogens out of a farm or hatchery.

Bill of Quantities — the itemized list of equipment, materials and works used in an RFQ or EPC contract.

Adult fish or shrimp kept to produce eggs, larvae or fingerlings.

Marine or lake production system where fish are grown in floating net pens.

Capital expenditure — the up-front investment to design, build and commission a project.

The temperature-controlled chain from harvest through processing, storage and export.

Commercial aquaculture is the industrial-scale farming of aquatic species — primarily fish, shrimp, molluscs and seaweed — for sale into food, feed or export markets. It uses engineered production systems (ponds, cages, RAS or hybrid) with defined biosecurity, water management and quality controls.

Dissolved oxygen — the concentration of O₂ in water, expressed in mg/L. A critical control parameter for every aquaculture system.

Environmental Impact Assessment — permitting document required for most industrial aquaculture projects.

Engineering, Procurement and Construction — a turnkey delivery model for large projects.

Feed Conversion Ratio — kilograms of feed required to produce one kilogram of live fish or shrimp.

Juvenile fish, typically 5–20 grams, ready to be transferred from a hatchery to a grow-out farm.

A fish hatchery is a specialized aquaculture facility that produces eggs, larvae and juveniles (fingerlings, post-larvae or smolts) from managed broodstock, for stocking into grow-out farms.

Independent standard for good agricultural and aquacultural practice, including chain-of-custody.

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points — food-safety management framework required for seafood processing.

Facility that produces eggs, larvae, post-larvae or fingerlings for grow-out farms.

Internal Rate of Return — the annualized return of a project's cash flows.

Letter of Intent — a non-binding document expressing commercial interest before a contract is signed.

Two-step biological conversion of ammonia → nitrite → nitrate performed by the biofilter of a RAS.

A contractual buyer for the farm's harvest, often a processor, exporter or retailer.

Operating expenditure — ongoing costs of running a facility (feed, energy, labour, maintenance).

Programmable Logic Controller — the automation hardware used to run pumps, aerators and dosing systems.

Early juvenile shrimp (PL10–PL15) transferred from a hatchery to a nursery or grow-out pond.

The structured process of specifying, sourcing and contracting equipment and services.

Recirculating Aquaculture System — indoor facility that treats and re-uses 90–99% of its water.

A RAS facility is an indoor aquaculture plant that recirculates 90–99% of its water through mechanical and biological filtration, oxygenation and disinfection. It enables year-round production near consumption markets, independent of climate or open water.

Request for Quotation — the formal document sent to suppliers to obtain priced offers.

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition — the monitoring and control software layer above the PLCs.

Seafood processing is the industrial transformation of harvested fish, shrimp and shellfish into chilled, frozen, canned or value-added products for domestic or export markets, under HACCP, ASC, BAP or ISO 22000 food-safety systems.

A shrimp farm is a commercial facility that grows shrimp — primarily Litopenaeus vannamei (whiteleg) or Penaeus monodon (black tiger) — from post-larvae to harvest, in earthen ponds, lined ponds, biofloc systems or indoor RAS.

Live weight of fish or shrimp per unit of water volume (kg/m³) or area (kg/m²).

Total Cost of Ownership — full lifetime cost of an asset including CAPEX, OPEX, energy and maintenance.

Water treatment using ultraviolet light to inactivate bacteria, viruses and parasites in the RAS loop.

Litopenaeus vannamei — the whiteleg shrimp species that accounts for the majority of global shrimp production.

The volume of new water added to a system per day, expressed as a percentage of total volume.