Without this booming industry, fishing as we know it today wouldn't exist. It's also one that has benefited anglers by taking fishing pressure off populations of wild fish and by supplementing existing populations through stocking. Yet these benefits may come with a high price tag.
Aquaculture can harm the environment.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture calls aquaculture the fastest growing segment of the agriculture industry, increasing between 5 and 10 percent annually. When the fish reach the desired size, they are shipped to grocery stores, bait shops, or stocking operations. Around Idaho's Middle Snake River, for example, at least 144 trout-rearing facilities raise tens of thousands of fish for human consumption. According to Darren Brandt of the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality, springwater is funneled through trout runs then sluiced into the Middle Snake. Recently, the EPA required these operations to reduce phosphorus discharges by 40 percent.