What type of aquaculture method combines fish and plant farming?

Aquaponics is the correct answer because it involves a synergistic system that combines fish and plant farming. In this method, fish waste provides an organic nutrient source for the plants, while the plants help to filter and purify the water for the fish. This symbiotic relationship maximizes resource efficiency and minimizes waste, creating a sustainable environment where both fish and plants can thrive together.

Hydroponics, while also related to plant farming, focuses exclusively on growing plants in water without soil, and does not include fish in the system. Mariculture refers specifically to the cultivation of marine organisms in their natural habitat, typically the ocean, without the integration of plant farming. Cage culture is a method of farming fish in cages or enclosures in an aquatic environment, which does not involve the interdependence between fish and plants essential to aquaponics.