Mechanistic insights into diverse nano-based strategies for aquaculture enhancement: A holistic review

The middle of the twenty-first century will witness an enormous challenge for providing food and livelihood to the entire world population, which is significantly increasing globally. Aquaculture development has been the focus of several countries in recent time owing to its huge contribution to food industry. The importance of aquaculture extends to providing food, employment, new health-care products, agricultural products, and many others. Since 1961, the annual worldwide growth of fish consumption has increased twice in comparison to population growth, indicating that the fisheries sector is crucial in meeting FAO's goal for a world without hunger and malnutrition. However, traditional aquaculture practices are insufficient in meeting the needs of the ever-increasing human population. Nanotechnology is an upcoming strategy for boosting aquaculture production through the advent and application of novel nanoparticles, nanocomposites, and similar compounds. Because of their extraordinarily small size, nano-based feed supplements such as Nano-863, dietary selenium, zinc, and copper nanoparticles can be easily absorbed inside the cells and can thus enhance fish growth performance. Nanoparticles derived from chitosan, poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid), zinc oxide, and silica have been widely utilized for the development of effective nano-delivery agents for promoting fish health and in packaging industries for increasing the storage life of seafood. In addition, nano-emulsions comprising different immiscible liquids are now being used for the coating of surfaces and are upcoming strategies to protect the fishing equipment and other fish harvesting tools. Nevertheless, nanotechnology has also certain limitations of use in terms of toxicity, environmental biodegradability, and others, which have been summarized in the present review, in addition to the potential benefits in aquaculture production.