Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Heart
- 3 The peripheral circulation
- 4 The blood
- 5 Haemopoiesis and phagocytosis - the mononuclear phagocytic system
- 6 Circulation through special regions
- 7 Retial counter-current systems: flow–diffusion–concentration
- 8 Venous return and venous pumps
- 9 The autonomic nervous system
- 10 The response to exercise
- 11 The response to hypoxia
- 12 Myxine, a speculative conclusion
- References
- Appendix of popular and scientific names
- Index
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Heart
- 3 The peripheral circulation
- 4 The blood
- 5 Haemopoiesis and phagocytosis - the mononuclear phagocytic system
- 6 Circulation through special regions
- 7 Retial counter-current systems: flow–diffusion–concentration
- 8 Venous return and venous pumps
- 9 The autonomic nervous system
- 10 The response to exercise
- 11 The response to hypoxia
- 12 Myxine, a speculative conclusion
- References
- Appendix of popular and scientific names
- Index
Summary
In recent years mankind has become increasingly aware of the finite nature of our natural resources. At least a third of the world's population is insufficiently nourished. At the same time much of the world's land suitable for farming is already under cultivation and it seems unlikely that the ever increasing shortfall of animal protein can be produced on farms. The oceans produce only 1–2% of the calories consumed by man and world fisheries too are fast approaching the point where all the well-defined stocks of fish are fully utilized. Perhaps an annual sustainable yield of 100 million tons of fish is a possibility; it seems unlikely that this catch can be doubled. Indeed, the growth of sea fisheries declined between 1975 and 1980. Today we still get most of our fish by hunting them with baited hooks and nets. More than a thousand years ago mankind realised that hunting was an inefficient way of obtaining meat, compared with farming it and in many countries the potential for aquaculture, i.e. the controlled cultivation and harvest of fish, is under investigation.
Aquaculture assumes that the proper management of systems, in terms of inputs of high quality water and feed, will give higher yields than unmanaged natural systems. An essential requirement of such management is an understanding of the physiology of the organisms to be cultivated. Established texts exist concerning the physiology of most of man's domesticated mammals and much of the success in raising meat from them is due to this; those wishing to know about the physiology of fish are less well provided.
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- Information
- Physiology and Form of Fish Circulation , pp. xv - xviiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991
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