Aquaculture, like all interventions by humans to exploit or manage natural resources for food production, has the potential for causing environmental harm as well as for improving livelihood and nutrition. Aquaculture development must be u undertaken in a broad intersectoral context, considering especially its interactions with agriculture, forestry and capture fisheries and its environmental consequences. This paper examines types of aquaculture development and discusses the concept of sustainability) and demographic, political and economic factors before giving examples of recent developments and criteria for assessing others.