Quantitative statistical analysis of the literature concerning the interaction of the environment and aquaculture-identification of gaps and lacks  <B>Quantitative statistical analysis of the literature concerning the interaction of the environment and aquaculture-identification of gaps and lacks</B><P></B><B>By B. W. MUNDAY, A. ELEFTHERIOU, M. KENTOURI and P. DIVANACH</B><I><BR> Institute of Marine Biology of Crete, PO Box 2214, 71003 Iraklio, Crete, Greece</I><B><CENTER></CENTER><P> Summary</B><P> Aquaculture is a generic term that covers a wide variety of culture techniques and cultured species under different conditions and in different geographical localities. It is typically a littoral and rural activity, and is rapidly expanding. An assessment of available literature concerning the interaction of aquaculture and the environment was conducted using the Aquatic Science and Fisheries Abstract (ASFA) database from 1978 to December 1991, incorporating a variety of definitive key word strategies together with a classical search of the available literature. Of the 2692 references collected, 70% were made up of publications from the ASFA database, while 30% consisted of 'grey' publications (i.e. Government reports, Working Group reports and publications not included in the ASFA database). The literature gleaned from the ASFA database tends to refer to specific interactions of environment and a given culture species in a given location, while the grey literature tends to deal with the broader implications. Most of the research focuses on the most commonly, cultured species in developed Western countries. Consequently, information on extensive aquaculture is based on the interactions arising from cyprinid (12%), oyster (13%) and mussel culture<B> </B>(8%), while information on intensive culture is concerned mainly with trout culture in fresh water (20%) and salmonid culture in shallow marine localities(6%).There is a general lack of information on the waste output of commercial farming systems of marine finfish species new to the aquaculture industry and on their basic biological requirements in cultivation, as well as their environmental interactions. Other gaps in the literature relate to the discharge of chemicals into the environment and the effects on the immediate environs and adjacent ecosystems and the accidental or intentional release of cultured species.<P> J. Appl. Ichthyol. 10 (1994), 319-325<P>