Commercial aquaculture, defined.
Plain-English definitions of the core terms in commercial aquaculture project planning, procurement and financing — curated by FishMatch Group, the specialized aquaculture platform of GlobalB2BGroup.
What is Commercial Aquaculture?
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.
What is a RAS Facility?
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.
What is a Shrimp Farm?
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.
What is a Fish Hatchery?
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.
What is Seafood Processing?
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.
What is Aquaculture Procurement?
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.
What is Aquaculture Project Development?
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.