Some are so successful in the new environment that they out-compete native flora and fauna, possibly displacing them, and always changing the structure and function of the ecosystem in some way. In the last several decades, innovative technologies borne of myriad incentives have dramatically impacted the way we live. At times they complicate, at times they simplify, and always, they expand the way we see and experience the world. Seafood is the general term used for all edible fish and shellfish. There are at least 1,000 different species of fish and shellfish harvested from the wild or raised by aquaculture, a controlled cultivation method which is becoming an increasingly important contributor to the world's seafood supply.
Aquaculture is the controlled cultivation and harvest of aquatic animals and plants.
There are many similarities between aquaculture and agriculture, but there are also some important differences. Aquaculture, like agriculture, is a way to meet the food demands of a growing global population with diminishing natural resources. However, unlike land under cultivation, the world's oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams are usually public or common resources. Physical coastal processes are the result of the complex interaction between winds, waves, tides, longshore currents, and relative sea level rise. These processes continuously shape and reshape our shorelines.