Features

The benefits realised by recirculating aquaculture systems including enhanced fish growth, product quality and survival, as well as reduced treatment costs have made the recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) approach an important production trend, write Stev…

Bycatch from longline tuna fisheries is a global environmental problem. This report from the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership shares some examples of best practice to avoid harming non-target organisms.

Mortalities of oyster Crassostrea gigas seed associated with ostreid herpesvirus have been observed in many oyster-producing countries since 2008. This report, by Bruno Petton and colleagues from the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, looks…

Dr Shelley Clarke, Technical Coordinator-Sharks and Bycatch of the ABNJ Tuna Project under the FAO-led Common Oceans Program, co-authored a global review of status and mitigation measures for bycatch in longline fisheries for tuna and tuna-like species.

Current efforts to decrease fish discards from the catch use discard estimates based on observers placed on vessels, but length composition data from scientific research trawls can help to improve the estimates at a regional level, allowing improved legislatio…

The positive impact on fish quality of humane harvesting practices means that increased fish welfare provides strong benefits to the consumer, write Barbara Rasco and colleagues from Washington State University and Blue North Inc. fisheries company.

The use of organic acid supplements in the diet of commercially farmed shrimp led to greater nutrient utilisation and some protection from pathogenic bacteria, write Wing-Keong Ng and colleagues from Universiti Sains Malaysia.

The amino acid taurine is a crucial ingredient in the diet of many commercially important fish species, but the removal of fishmeal from diets may cause a deficiency, write Guillaume Salze and Allen Davis from Auburn University.

Salmon raised in a reduced photoperiod environment of 18 hours light are more likely to show undesirable early maturation than those raised under 24 hour light, write Christopher Good and colleagues from the Conservation Fund's Freshwater Institute and USDA-AR…

The objectives of the Aquaculture for Food Security, Poverty Alleviation and Nutrition (AFSPAN) project were to strengthen the knowledge base and develop new and more rigorous methodologies of quantifying the contribution of aquaculture to combat hunger and po…

Including small amounts of garlic in the diet of Nile tilapia led to an increase in growth rates, suggests a study from A.I. Mehrim and colleagues from Mansoura University in Egypt.

Triploid Atlantic salmon are not more susceptible to sea louse infection than diploid fish, according to a study by Benedikt Frenzl et al, University of Stirling, UK.

Scientists at MIT and Harvard University have identified two optical structures within a limpet's shell that give its blue-striped appearance.

A new study has shown that the dottyback, a small predatory reef fish, can change the colour of its body to imitate a variety of other reef fish species, allowing the dottyback to sneak up undetected and eat their young.

Fish Vet Group's PondDtox contains unique bacteria (Paracoccus pantotrophus), which are highly effective in anaerobic conversion of toxic Hydrogen Sulphideinto non-toxic sulfate in benthic environments.

The manner and routes of dispersal vary with the species and the ecological conditions. Many fish form shoals to avoid predation. Shoaling with familiar conspecifics affords the fish an even greater advantage by increasing the benefit for relatives. This promo…

Salmon recovery and the potential detrimental effects of dams on fish have been attracting national attention due to the environmental and economic implications. In recent years acoustic telemetry has been the primary method for studying salmon passage, but no…

Tilapia has drawn much attention lately and been recognized by FAO as the most potent culture fish species in supplying human protein source of the Century.

The level of success we get in catfish farming is usually tied to the level of management practices we decide to put in place in conjuction with the level of efficiency we achieve from our culture systems, writes Lanre Ogunsina, Fish Unlimited. Part 2 and 3 co…

The importance of aquaculture in Asia goes beyond its relatively high contribution to the worldwide aquaculture output. Fish products feature prominently in local diets of Southeast Asia. Around 31 million people are employed in aquaculture in Asia, writes Rui…

Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) is a marine, cold-water flat fish that is farmed in Canada, Iceland, the UK and Norway. The development of halibut aquaculture began in the 1980's but it is only in recent years that many of the challenges in farmin…

Each year the shrimp industry suffers losses of more than US$1 billion dueto early mortality syndrome or acute hepatopancreatic necrosis (EMS/AHPND), anemerging disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Pedro Encarnaao, PhD and Jutta Zwielehner,…

Eel farming is a growing industry across the globe and is becoming more lucrative each year.

As many documents now point towards the creation of Chorkor smoking kilns for smoking fish, Adrian Piers, Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture Consulting, East African Community and SADC Region, shares his views on other fish smoker designs which have been w…

Feed represents the largest production cost in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). As a result of ever increasing raw material prices, nutritionists are under continuous pressure to reduce formulation cost and search for cheaper, alternative ingredients, write Gi…

Fishing takes place in the high seas and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of maritime countries. Closing the former to fishing has recently been proposed in the literature and is currently an issue of debate in various international fora, write U. Rashid Sumail…

Penaeid shrimp production is under continuous threat by bacterial and particularly viral infections which have caused disastrous collapses of the industry in all major shrimp producing countries. This article reports on recent progress in the development of fe…

In a collaborative research project between the University of Stirling and Rothamsted Research, scientists have developed genetically modified (GM) plants that can produce up to 20 per cent of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), one of the two omega-3 LC PUFA conferr…

The Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) has published this Success Story on Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, which has successfully been experimented and promoted for commercial production by the Nepal Agricultural Resear…

Opening up a crab to find it empty of meat is disappointing, not to mention a waste of a good crab. Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol district manager Rob McDonald said there are methods people can use to assess whether their prized crab is full or empty…

This article, by Oleksandr A. Byelashov & Mark E. Griffin (Omega Protein Inc.), contributes to the ongoing debate regarding the sustainability of fishmeal and fish oil in aquaculture diets. It demonstrates why the Fish In, Fish Out metric, which is frequen…

The level of success we get in catfish farming is usually tied to the level of management practices we decide to put in place in conjuction with the level of efficiency we achieve from our culture systems, writes Lanre Ogunsina, Fish Unlimited in Part 1.

The aquaculture industry is undergoing a significant change, and one that presents a tough challenge to overcome. In Canada, fisheries along the west coast have been losing millions of pounds worth of stock and revenue due to the rising acidity of the coastal …

University of Georgia Tifton Campus student Amanda Miller is educating her community about sustainability through aquaponics one homegrown meal at a time.

Becoming self-sufficient in food production what better way is there for countries to sustainably feed their growing populations? But, scratch the surface of this potential solution, and it doesnt really stack up.

Not all species may suffer from climate change. A new analysis shows that Dolly Varden, a species of char common in southeast Alaska, adjust their migrations so they can keep feasting on a key food source - salmon eggs - even as shifts in climate altered the t…

This FAO technical paper showcases current wisdom in aquaponics, focusing on small-scale production. The publication, written in a style designed to be digestible by a non-technical reader, is the product of practical experience with small-scale and commercial…

Florfenicol (FLR) is a commonly used antibiotic for the treatment of bacterial diseases in white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. In this study, Xianyun Ren, Luqing Pan and Lin Wang, Ocean University of China, evaluated the tissue distribution and elimination, cha…

This paper describes a study in which environmental manipulation of salmon swimming depth was tested in an attempt to reduce farm infection of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar by the salmon louse, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, write B. Frenzl et al, University of Stirl…

With interest in culturing tilapia in marine habitats increasing, producers must obtain tilapia capable of growing well in seawater, writes Mohammad T. Ridha, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. Taken from the Global Aquaculture Advocate, a Global Aquacu…