Health & Welfare

The REPROSEED project is taking a focused, cooperative approach to better understanding of optimized mollusc hatchery/nursery-rearing techniques. 

Farm trials compare new products or methods with practices in current use. Due to aquaculture’s inherent variability, multiple replicate treatments in experimental units that are as similar as possible are required. 

Most aquaculture farms rely on general strategies for biosecurity that implement protocols learned from others. Establishing effective biosecurity, however, can be complicated due to multiple interacting variables. 

Authors evaluated how limiting dietary essential amino acids and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids would affect the growth performance of white shrimp raised in a zero-water-exchange biofloc system. The shrimp were fed diets with varied levels of fishmeal and fish oil and supplemented with soy products. 

Bangladesh shrimp farmers are adopting measures to improve quality to comply with international standards. A survey found that most farmers visually evaluated shrimp by checking size, weight and signs of disease before harvesting. 

In ongoing trials of greenhouse-enclosed intensive biofloc shrimp culture systems, the objectives of a 2012 study were to evaluate the performance of fast-growth shrimp fed a commercial diet formulated for high-density culture systems, and to further evaluate injector performance in the zero-exchange, super-intensive raceways. 

The final article in a series about a project in Brunei to develop technology for production of black tiger shrimp focuses on the development of advanced grow-out ponds and practices with enhanced systems for biosecurity, sludge removal, water reuse, energy efficiency, automatic feeding and mechanical harvesting. 

A five-year project was undertaken in Brunei Darussalam to develop advanced technology for the production of large black tiger shrimp. A combination of technologies has enabled efficient production of large-sized black tiger shrimp, which could lead to a resurgence of this species in Asia. 

Oral vaccination can be done with virtually all fish sizes and is a relatively stress-free and inexpensive approach. The authors developed a novel oral vaccine delivery system that was found effective against infectious salmon anemia and salmonid rickettsial septicemia at salmon farms in Chile. 

For a five-year project undertaken in Brunei Darussalam to develop advanced technology for production of large black tiger shrimp, a comprehensive disease diagnostic laboratory was developed to enable detection of known and emerging shrimp pathogens by molecular and histological methods. 

Specific pathogen-free offspring developed from founder populations of P. monodon collected from Brunei coastal waters were introduced into a biosecure breeding program, where they have been reared to the fifth generation using family-based selection for reproduction and growth. 

Nutrition research run in conjunction with the breeding program ensures that cost-effective feeds are optimized for shrimp performance for a five-year project undertaken in Brunei Darussalam to develop advanced technology for production of large black tiger shrimp. 

The University of the Canary Islands in Spain is researching yellowtail broodstock management and larval rearing to promote aquaculture diversification in Europe. 

The culture of yellow tang represents a considerable economic opportunity and critical conservation strategy in coral reef ecosystem protection. The Oceanic Institute is working to establish aquaculture techniques to reduce the capture of wild fish. 

Zebrafish offer a living model system for research in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. The Aquatic Resources Program at Children’s Hospital Boston recently identified an alternative feeding method that requires less labor.