Aquaculture exemplifies the ongoing global struggle to strike a sustainable balance between the conflicting needs of a large human world population, human health, ecosystem health, the welfare of wild and domesticated animals, and the economic principles of globalized economies. On the one hand, aquaculture has great potential for providing us with a healthy and nutritious food supply while alleviating pressure on captive fisheries and reducing fisheries-induced habitat destruction, overfishing, genetic modification of wild populations, and wholesale waste of bycatch. On the other hand, aquaculture relies heavily on clean water, an increasingly precious (and dwindling) resource that is subject to intense pressure of being used for many competing purposes. This book outlines basic concepts, opportunities, and challenges of aquaculture and emphasizes ecological considerations. It contrasts the many values and promises of aquaculture with their pitfalls, drawbacks, and challenges to develop a broad understanding of the general state of aquaculture and equip students with the knowledge they need to contribute to future advances in the field. It provides a critical assessment of current aquaculture practices using a broad, interdisciplinary perspective that emphasizes how best to align the two major (and often conflicting) goals of future aquaculture development: minimizing reliance on ecosystem services while maximizing productivity. Finally, it illustrates opportunities for achieving these goals by discussing specific examples of aquaculture species and practices that illustrate key concepts.