Aquaculture, the farming of fish, shrimp, shellfish and seaweeds have been the sources of human protein for nearly four thousand years, especially in Asia. In the last decade, however, there has been unprecedented growth in aquaculture production, more than 300% since 1984, which has increased the importance of the modern food supply. It's the world's fastest-growing food production activity. And globally, more than 25% of the odd fishing and shellfish production in 1999 was attributable to aquaculture. Yes, this industry's contributions to human diet are actually greater than the numbers imply, whereas 1/3 of the conventional fish catch is used to make fish meal and fish oil. Virtually all farmed fish are used as human food. Today, nearly 1/3 of fish consumed by a human is the product of aquaculture, and that percentage will only increase as aquaculture expands the world's conventional fish catch, for the oceans and lakes continues to decline because of overfishing and environmental damage.