Features

Chelsea M. Rochman, University of California, discusses the harm that waste plastics in the sea can have on marine life. Plastics are both harmful as objects and harmful as holders of chemical pollutants.

Scientists are seeking to improve the health benefits of rainbow trout by using dietary coriander oil along with vegetable oil to improve fatty acid composition in the fillet.

Fish do not feel pain the way humans do. That is the conclusion drawn by an international team of researchers consisting of neurobiologists, behavioural ecologists and fishery scientists. One contributor to the landmark study was Prof. Dr Robert Arlinghaus of …

Similarities in how different organisms look can indicate a close evolutionary relationship. Conversely, great differences in appearance can suggest a very distant relationship, as in many adult marine fish species. For the first time, however, a Smithsonian s…

This article provides a quick guide to breeding males for tilapia farming and best practice for hatchery, grow out and slaughter, writes Lucy Towers, editor of TheFishSite.

Cryopreservation is a process to maintain genetic material (such as spermatozoa) in subzero freezing. Abinawanto Zuraidah and Retno Lestari, University of Indonesia, disscussed the effect of skimmed milk on spermatozoa quality of silver barb (Barbonymus gonion…

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) contracted with McDowell Group, an Alaska-based research firm, to measure the economic impact of the Alaska seafood industry in the state of Alaska, Washington State and in the US economy overall. The report consid…

This report is the first in a series of articles highlighting the research results coming out of the NEMO Project, or its more formal name, Training network on protective immune modulation in warm water fish by feeding glucans. The project was awarded by the E…

Tropical and ornamental fish, like terrestrial animals, are susceptible to a wide variety of infectious pathogens including viral, bacterial, parasitic and fungal agents, said Stephen Smith, Virginia Tech, speaking at the Annual AVMA Convention in Chicago, USA…

This study, by Ibrahim Diler et al, Suleyman Demirel University, Turkey, is the first trial to evaluate algae meal, Ulva rigida, as an inexpensive and locally available feed ingredient in the diet of common carp, Cyprinus carpio.

Speaking at the Annual AVMA Convention in Chicago, USA, Jill Arnold, National Aquarium, Baltimore, provides an overview of clinical chemistry testing and a summary of the literature as a basis for future work to establish standard classification of fish leukoc…

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an abundant class of endogenous small RNA molecules that downregulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. This study by Rune Andreassen, Oslo and Akershus University, et al, aims to identify and characterize miRNA genes in …

Koi herpesvirus (KHV) is a highly contagious virus that causes significant morbidity and mortality in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) varieties (Hedrick et al. 2000, Haenen et al. 2004). Common carp is raised as a foodfish in many countries and has also been sel…

Speaking at Aquaculture Europe 2013, in Trondheim, Norway, Lars Gansel, SINTEF, dicussed how biofouling affects aquaculture net cages. As part of the investigation, the effect of different types and amounts of fouling on nets was recorded, allowing a database …

There is a growing demand for organic seafood around the world. While some will question the economic feasibility of producing organically, organisations and farmers at Aqua Nor 2013, in Trondheim, Norway, discussed how organic aquaculture has grown and how it…

One of the most common problems of tropical and ornamental fishes are those caused by parasites. Fish parasites include protozoans, trematodes, cestodes, nematodes, acanthocephalans, crustaceans and arthropods, said Stephen A. Smith, Virginia Tech, speaking at…

Mariculture of tropical sea cucumbers is promising, but the nursery rearing of juveniles is a bottleneck for farming and sea ranching. Steven W. Purcell and Natacha S. Agudo conducted four medium-scale experiments lasting 36 weeks, using thousands of cultured …

In a 12-week indoor feeding trial by A. M. Abdelhamid, Al-Mansourah University and A. A. Soliman, Egypt National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, common carp fry were fed dietary graded levels (0, 1, and 2 per cent) of various medicinal plants to see w…

The ability of species and populations to adapt to environmental change is the cornerstone of the emerging field of ecological genomics. Until recently, genome-wide studies of genetic adaptation in non-model organisms were not possible. Steve Smith, Flinders U…

In the present study, by Mads Kristiansen, University of Tomso, Norway, et al, the impact on gut microbiology and indigenous gut histology of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) was investigated following feeding of a control and a prebiotic (EWOS prebiosal) diet…

Use of manufactured feeds in aquaculture in Bangladesh has grown rapidly over the last five years. More than 1 million tonnes of commercially formulated feeds and 0.3-0.4 million tonnes of farm-made feeds were produced in 2012, and sectoral growth is projected…

Dr Mark McMurtry's comparison of the two schools of aquaponics shows that the media-based, 'flood/drain' approach outperforms, by a wide margin, the hydroponic raft system. Dr McMurtry is widely acknowledged as the creator of the science of aquaponics when he …

Aflatoxins are known as a hepatocarcinogen in various animal species, including fish. The present study, by Dr Ahmed Ismail Mohamed Mehrim from Mansoura University, Egypt, was designed to evaluate the ability of some medicinal herbs against aflatoxicosis regar…

The catfish industry has experienced a dramatic downsizing in the last several years in large part because of rapidly increasing feed cost. This increased cost is directly correlated to the increased price of soybean meal and corn the primary feedstuffs in cat…

This report from the Australian Government presents estimates of the financial and economic performance of the Commonwealth Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery and two sectors of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery. It provides survey based esti…

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production system worldwide and is particularly important in bridging the gap between fish demand and supply in Nigeria. This study was carried out by F.O.A George et al, University of Agriculture, Nigeria, to determine …

This technical paper from the FAO provides estimates of the potential for offshore mariculture development, presenting, for the first time, quantitative spatial measures of the status and potential of offshore mariculture development that are comprehensive of …

The San Pedro (also known as the Pacific beakfish), Oplegnathus insignis, is a species of perciform fish found in the eastern Pacific Ocean. In northern Chile, San Pedro are an important food fish currently being evaluated for aquaculture. The purpose of this …

To study the effect of dietary inclusion of graded levels (0, 1, 2 %) of Fenugreek seed meal (FSM) or Cresson seeds meal (CSM)on Nile tilapia fry performance, A.M. Abdelhamid and A.A.A. Soliman, Al-Mansoura University, Egypt conducted an indoor feeding trial w…

Equipped with the zebrafish genome, researchers have designed a method to assay the function of each and every gene and to explore the effects genetic variation has on zebrafish. So far the team has generated one or more mutations in almost 40 per cent of all …

Terrestrial livestock are so different that they often have nicknames, but thousands of farmed fish look so similar that many are surprised to learn that biologists claim that fish may have different personalities too. Scientists at Nofima have studied the ind…

Hydroferrate fluid, MRN-100, an iron-based compound derived from bivalent and trivalent ferrates, is a potent antioxidant compound. Mamdooh GHONEUM, Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, US, et al examined the protective effect of MRN-100 against ga…

Comparative genomics is a powerful tool to transfer genomic information from model species to related nonmodel species. Yu Zhang et al, Auburn University, chose catfish linkage group 8, which was found to contain microsatellite markers associated with the tole…

The yellow coloration in catfish fillets caused by carotenoids does not affect flavor, but many consumers see the yellowish fillets as inferior. Taken from the Global Aquaculture Advocate, a Global Aquaculture Alliance publication.

For some years cobia has been thought of as a fish with tremendous potential for marine aquaculture. According to a Taiwanese research paper there is the potential to farm one million tonnes of the fast-growing tropical species annually around the world, write…

With little genetic information available on Catla carp, T.K.Mohapatra et, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, have carried out a study to evaluate the genetic variation and phylogenetic relationship among the two different stocks of Catla c…

Digestion is described as the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into metabolisable parts which can be used by the organism. In monogastric animals, including a wide variety of different fish species (ranging for instance from Salmon and trout via tilap…

Lab studies with channel catfish and rainbow trout have found that phytogenic feed additives can help improve weight gain, feed conversion and immunity to disease. A pond study in Mississippi, USA, by Brian C. Peterson, USDA, et al compared the performance of …

Helcio Luis de Almeida Marques, Fishery Institute of So Paulo State Agricultural Department, et al, conducted research to improve the uptake of seed in artificial collectors and optimize the amount of seed used in mussel farming. Taken from the Global Aquacult…

In the eastern Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Florida, grey snapper, was found to be infected with the myxozoan parasite Sphaerospora motemarini. In order to better understand the influence this specific myxozoan has on its host, Astrid S. Holzer, Institute …