An overview on the aquaculture development in Colombia: Current status, opportunities and challenges.

Colombia due to its geographical location is provided with different climatic zones, that are suitable for continental and marine aquaculture of a wide range of species with a high possibility of commercialisation. Currently, the production comes mainly from ponds and floating cage aquaculture systems, supplying more than 90% of the freshwater and saltwater organisms consumed in the country, where the production is based on tilapia, trout, cachama and shrimp. This review aims to provide information of the current aquaculture value chain and development in Colombia by describing the current production systems and highlighting their limitations that make difficult to achieve high efficiency combined with necessary sustainability. Colombia has all the potential to develop tropical aquaculture, which should focus on native fish breeding, genetic improvement, high-tech aquaculture systems, agro-industrial and fish biomass development valorisation. Future development trends and perspectives are also analysed in this review. • Colombia has water availability for breeding and cultivation of tropical fish species. • Lack in knowledge and skilled workers affects high-tech aquaculture systems. • Academic and governmental actors can translate strategies and research into actions. • Native fish genetic breeding and agro-industrial valorisation are current challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]