Aquaculture engineering is the branch of agricultural engineering

Agricultural engineering

Agricultural engineering is the engineering discipline that applies engineering science and technology to agricultural production and processing...

 that studies cultured aquatic

Aquatic ecosystem

An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem in a body of water. Communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment live in aquatic ecosystems. The two main types of aquatic ecosystems are marine ecosystems and freshwater ecosystems....

 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 and the production systems used in their culture. Study, research and development in this area ranges from low intensity man-made pond

Water garden

Water gardens, also known as aquatic gardens, are a type of man-made water feature. A water garden is defined as any interior or exterior landscape or architectural element whose primarily purpose is to house, display, or propagate a particular species or variety of aquatic plant...

 systems to highly intensive recirculation systems involving natural lakes. Species cultured in these systems could range from warm to cold water fish and from fresh to sea water.

Ponds make up a large portion of aquaculture

Aquaculture

Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...

 production systems. The engineering aspect of aquaculture engineering aims to apply mathematical and engineering

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

 concepts to the effective development of aquatic production systems with emphasis on the use of computer simulation

Computer simulation

A computer simulation, a computer model, or a computational model is a computer program, or network of computers, that attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system...

for water quality and fish production. Environmental conditions and feeding and fertilization factors are important components of these studies and production.

Whether research, teaching, study, or production systems, aquaculture engineering systems generally make use of water treatment operations to ensure the good quality of the environment for the fish life. Water recirculation systems are also an important aspect of this endeavor, with emphasis on water quality, oxygen content, and feed amount.