A Glossary of Terms

A-B   C-D   E-F   G-H   I-J   K-L   M-N   O-P   Q-R   S-T   U-V   W-X  Y-Z

Acre - A measure of land. One acre equals 43,560 square feet.

Aquaculture - The farming of aquatic organisms including fish, mollusks, crustaceans and aquatic plants with some sort of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding, protection from predators, etc . Alternative terms: fish culture, fish farming.

Anadromous - Fish that migrate up rivers from the sea to breed in fresh water. Such as salmon, shad, alewife, etc.

Antibiotic - A medicine used to treat disease caused by bacteria.

Area - The scientific measurement for a surface. For land or water, area is described in acres.

Breed - See reproduce.

Broodstock - Mature fish that are used for spawning.

Biodiversity - The number and variety of organisms found within a specified geographic region.

Biomass - The sum of weights of individuals in a fish stock.

Bycatch - Fish or shellfish that are not targeted in a fishery but are caught incidentally. Having little or no commercial value, these animals are discarded and assumed dead.

Closures - The banning of fishing during particular times or seasons or in particular areas, or a combination of both.

Crustacean - Major group of animals, including crabs, shrimps, prawns, lobsters and crayfish; invertebrate organisms whose members have a hard outer skeleton, and occurring in marine and fresh waters and on land; belonging to the phylum Crustacea; aquatic arthropods that typically have a body covered with a hard shell, including lobsters, shrimps, crabs, etc.

Demersal - Living in, on or near the ocean floor.

Diadromous - A fish that migrates between freshwater and seawater.

Dredge - A type of fishing gear used to harvest shellfish off the ocean bottom. A dredge is essentially a metal "rake" that is dragged across the ocean bottom, scraping up shellfish in its path.

Ecosystem - The complex set of relationships between organisms (such as animals, plants and bacteria) and their environment in a specific area.

Environment - The sum of all physical, chemical, and biological factors to which an organism or community is subjected.

Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) - Defined by Congress as "those waters and substrate necessary to fish for breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity".

Estuary - Semi-enclosed coastal bodies of water in which the ocean water is significantly diluted by fresh water from land runoff.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) - A zone of the ocean under national jurisdiction (extending up to 200-nautical miles from the coastline) declared in line with the provisions of 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, within which the coastal State has exclusive fishing rights.

Feed - A specially formulated diet that is fed to aquaculture species. Ingredients in aquaculture feed can include grains, soybeans, and fish oil, and differ depending on what species is being raised and according to aquaculture farm operations.

Fish health - General body condition and disease status of a fish. Important factor to monitor in aquaculture facilities, as unhealthy fish may negatively affect a fish farm’s operations and the surrounding environment.

Fishing Effort - The amount of time and fishing power used to harvest fish. Fishing power includes gear size, boat size, and horsepower.

Fish Farming - See AQUACULTURE

Fisheries management - The process by which governments or international bodies attempt to control fish stocks.

Fishery Management Plan (FMP) - A set of regulations to achieve specified management goals for a fishery.

Fish Population - A group of interbreeding fish that possess similar biological characteristics (birth rate, growth rate, age structure, and death rate).

Fish stock - The part of a fish population that is harvested by fishermen.

Fry - Fully formed baby fish. Alternative terms: alvins .

Ghost fishing - The capture of fish by lost or abandoned fishing gear

Groundfish - A species or group of fish that live on or near the sea bottom.

Growout - The final phase of the growout cycle on a fish farm.

Habitat - The place where an organism lives, including everything that surrounds and effects its life: e.g., water, bottom, vegetation, associated species, and food supply.

Hatchery - The first phase of the growout cycle on a fish farm. Hatchery fish are usually grown indoors in tanks and fed a specialized diet.

Individual transferable quota (ITQ) - A form of limited entry that gives private property rights to fishermen by assigning a fixed share of the catch to each fisherman.

Inorganic - Being or composed of matter other than plant or animal.

Landings - The number or poundage of fish unloaded at a dock by commercial fishermen.

Longline - A type of fishing gear used to catch fish on the ocean bottom or in the water column. A typical longline includes a long fishing line with baited hooks dangling every few feet.

Magnuson Act - The U.S. federal law that created regional councils and is the federal government's basis for fisheries management in the EEZ.

Marine protected area (MPA) - A marine reserve, park or other area protected from uncontrolled human access and use by the application of various restrictions on activities, development and exploitation.

Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) - The largest annual catch that may be taken from a stock continuously without affecting the catch of future years.

Mortality - Another word for death.

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) - A federal agency responsible for managing the nation's saltwater fish.

Nursery - The second phase of the growout cycle on a fish farm. Nursery fish are usually grown in an intermediate sized pond or pen and fed an intermediate diet.

Organic - Being or composed of plant or animal matter.

Organism - Any living thing, such as a plant, animal, bacterium or other life form.

Overfishing - Overfishing occurs when a population of fish is caught faster than it can replenish itself through reproduction; harvesting at a rate greater than that which will meet the management goal.

Pelagic - Relating to the open oceans and seas rather than waters adjacent to land or inland waters.

Pollution - Presence of substances in the environment (air, water, land) whose nature, location, or quantity produces undesirable environmental effects. In terms of aquaculture, biological pollution refers to organic inputs created by fish feeds and fish wastes. Similarly, chemical pollution refers to everything else (e.g., oil, pesticides, etc.).

Pond (earthen) - Most ponds used for aquaculture are built on flat land by removing soil from the area that will become the bottom of the pond and using that soil to form the pond's bank. Alternative terms: levee ponds

Quota - The maximum number of fish that can be legally landed in a time period. It can apply to the total fishery or an individual fisherman's share under an IFQ or ITQ system.

Raceways - A long narrow tank used to grow fish.

Reproduce - To produce offspring.

Resources - Anything obtained from the living and nonliving environment to meet human needs and wants. Fishery resources are those resources of value to fisheries.

Smoltification - The physiological transformation of freshwater juvenile salmon into ocean-going fish. This life history shift involves extensive physiological, behavioral, morphological, and biochemical changes in preparation for marine life.

Spawning - The act of mating for shellfish and fish. Species - Group of animals or plants having common characteristics, able to breed together to produce fertile (capable of reproducing) offspring, and maintaining their 'separateness' from other groups.

Stocking Density - The number of fish per volume of water. For example, 1 fish per cubic meter of water is a typical stocking density on a tilapia farm.

Stock Health - Scientific estimation of the current size of an animal population compared to historical population estimates.

Sustainability - Ability to persist in the long-term to meet the needs and aspirations of present and future generations.

Therapeutics - Substances used to treat fish/shellfish diseases including antibiotics, vaccines, chemical baths, etc.

Total Allowable Catch (TAC) - The maximum catch allowed from a fishery in accordance with a specified management plan.

Wild Fishery - The organized, intended capture of a specific type of aquatic animal from its natural environment. Wild fisheries include activities for commercial and recreational purposes.