Finfish.org » Hatchery R&D

European Researchers hit Tuna Spawning Bonanza!!!

Andrew — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:40:17 +0000

Two EU funded research projects have both simultaneously produced millions of Tuna eggs after artificial induction of captive fish in sea cages in the Mediterranean.

In the SELFDOTT project (From capture based to SELF-sustained aquaculture and Domestication of bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus), daily spawnings consisting of more than 140 million eggs have been obtained at the project´s installations in Cartagena (Spain), which are managed by the Tuna Graso company, with a maximum of 34 million eggs on Friday 3rd July, a figure which has never been achieved in previous projects.

The second project ALLOTUNA based in Calabria and funded by the region Puglia at the Mare Nostrum facilities were able to produce up to a total of 46 million eggs over a number of days and reproduce for a second year running viable quantities of eggs for international hatcheries.

The numerous international hatcheries based in France, Spain, Malta, Crete and Israel are all now concentrating on the developing larvae. The international consortia of scientists used techniques from a previous EU funded project REPRODOTT to make this breakthrough.

This is a tremendous boost for the European Union funded projects to show that “eggs on demand “ may be a sustainable pathway for aquaculture and help the conservation of the dwindling tuna stocks in the future.

On the 7th of July in Spain excess eggs were returned to the sea and this symbolic historical act , when for the first time living Tuna eggs have been returned to the sea from breeding fish in captivity marks a small step on the road to recovery. The validity of such restocking programmes is hard to assess but every little could help together with other ecologically sustainable management concepts for wild and aquaculture stocks in the future.

For further information please click on this link to download a .pdf file with additional details, photographs and contact information.

Industrial Biotechnology and Aquaculture

Andrew — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:07:06 +0000

One of the key facts emerging about the practice of open innovation is that the vast majority of significant innovation advances derive from applying insights already known in one field application to a field of application where the insight has not previously been used.

To test this insight I decided to investigate a hot field of inventive activity unrelated to fishing or aquaculture. According to an October 2008 report from the Office of Industries of the US International Trade Commission industrial biotechnology is an emerging field of biotechnology characterized by the use of enzymes, microorganisms, and other biocatalysts to create new products.

The report: may be accessed here Patenting Trends and Innovation in Industrial Biotechnology.

To test the notion stated at the commencement of the post I reviewed the patent portfolios of some of the most active patenting companies to determine their relevance to aquaculture.

Novozymes is a producer of enzymes and micro-organisms for pharmaceutical and industrial uses. The company was founded in Denmark as a medical firm in 1925 and began producing enzymes for industrial use (for the softening of leather) in 1941. Novozymes has production and research facilities in Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and research facilities in India.

While the largest share of Novozymes’ revenue comes from detergent enzymes, in the last few years, sales of technical enzymes, such as those that convert starch to sugars for the production of ethanol, have grown at a faster pace and are now almost equal to the company’s sales of detergent enzymes.

In 2007, Novozymes had revenue of $1.54 billion, net income of $213 million, and about 4,700 employees. Novozymes’ strong revenue and net income growth over the period have enabled growing R&D expenditures, which increased from $138.0 million in 2001 to $202.6 million in 2007.

The strategy for the future growth of the company is to expand the market for enzymes by producing new products, and new applications for current products, through substantial R&D efforts.

The report is valuable because on page 4-6 Figure 4.3 it broadly outlines the scope of the Novozymes patent portfolio as consisting of:

“an estimated 334 patents, and has pending an estimated 447 patent applications with the USPTO for the 1997–2007 period”

Given this, we can assume that Novozymes has gained a thorough appreciation of the business of innovation and the role of intellectual property protection.

To test the notion that Novozymes might have IP valuable in aquaculture I determined to use the superficial approach of seeing whether the term ‘aquaculture’ was used in any of their patents. I used the free patent search feature at Free Patents Online. Many other more sophisticated patent analytics tools exist to enable such investigations.

First I decided to investigate how many patents and patent applications were linked to Novozymes as an Assignee – 937 for US granted patents and applications.

I then searched for the word ‘aquaculture’ in all patent documents where Novozymes were identified as the assignee using the search string: AN/novozymes AND ABST/aquaculture to determine how many Novozymes patents anticipate application in the field of aquaculture.

The result is available here. Novozymes has identified bacteria which are more effective at removing ammonia and nitrite than the commonly used bacteria. Novoezymes present their product information here.

It would be interesting to judge the performance of this consortium of nitrifying bacteria on some inert media for removal of nitrates and ammonia for RAS systems.

Algal Paste to improve tank fed fish larvae

Andrew — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:13:01 +0000

Here’s a company in Canada who culture an Algal Paste which can be used for improving the development of early stage larval marine fish being cultivated in tanks;

http://www.innovativeaqua.com/

Greenwater Formula

Green water formula, Nannochloropsis oculata (2µ), is used in the culture of early stage larval marine fish. Our Green water formula is designed to create diffuse light conditions for the first feeding of larval marine fish. Not only does it help to initiate first-feeding, it has acted to promote schooling activity and alleviate the problems associated with “nose-banging”. Its’ great fatty acid profile also means quality food available to rotifers in the tank. Cell densities are approximately 30 billion cells per ml. of paste.

This Algae’s positive uses are supported in the following report -

Green water: Optical rather than nutritional effect. pp. 266-269.

Marliave, J.B. 1994.
1994 AZA Conference Proceedings, Atlanta, GA

Where the author finds, “the halibut larvae in clear water concentrated at the water surface and near the tank walls, whereas in green water the larvae spent most of the time in the water column, searching for prey.”

and, “In clear water, larval hexagrammids tended to swim cross-current into tank walls, and showed poor survival rates. The use of algae paste to reduce visibility resulted in slower swimming, active feeding and formation of schools, with higher survival rates”

Given the need to find alternative sources of food and better methods of cultivation I found this innovation quite interesting.

Sean

The Genome Project

Andrew — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:12:44 +0000

If you’re a fan of National Geographic you’ll be familiar with their human genome project. Together with IBM NG are mapping the movement through time of our global civilization from our earliest ancestors, African “Adam & Eve”. They use genetic markers which are evolutionary changes in an organism’s DNA that can be tracked through it’s descendants. It’s a fascinating project in which you yourself can get involved by sending off for a DNA testing kit.

Genome Canada, “The Atlantic Cod Story” is a similar project. Its purpose is not to track migration patterns but to develop an understanding of of better breeding in Atlantic Cod. I like the idea as it’s not about GM but about using genetic information to improve natural breeding results.

Here’s a link to the project;

http://www.genomecanada.ca/en/info/fisheries/atlantic.aspx

One aquaculture specialist, Nell Halse, explains the project best,

“It takes several generations of breeding to produce the best stock. By working with our partners in this genomics project, we’ll be able to identify ‘markers’ on the fish DNA that will pinpoint specific traits. This will allow us to increase the accuracy of our breeding program, making it much more efficient.”

Sean

Using Furarone Paints as an Anti-Foulant

Andrew — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:39:00 +0000

The red alga Delisea pulchra has been a model organism for understanding the ecological role of secondary metabolites as natural antifoulants.
Furanones are produced by the plant and delivered to the surface at a concentration where they regulate bacterial colonisation and the settlement of epibiota.
This biological understanding has led to the application of furanones as inhibitors of bacterial- and macro-fouling. Furanones inhibit bacterial colonisation and biofilm development through interference with a key bacterial quorum-sensing pathway, the acylated homoserine lactone regulatory system in Gram-negative bacteria.

Laboratory antifouling assays have been used to identify effective and safe furanone-analogues while field trials of furanones incorporated into coatings and polymers demonstrate efficacies similar to commercial biocides. Further development is required to control the release of compounds from suitable carriers to extend coating/polymer lifespans. This review summarises the extensive work on furanones focusing on their natural and applied antifouling activities.

http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:16805438

Barnacles cause corrosion and make ships heavier and harder to steer. Antifouling paints that contain tin or copper stop barnacles from attaching and leach metals into the sea and kill many nontarget organisms. An antifouling chemical made by Delisea pulchra blocks bacterial communication systems and prevents bacterial biofilms from developing on its surface. This then stops barnacles from attaching. The seaweed metabolite can be used to replace the toxic chemicals in any environment that can be submerged in an aqueous environment.

http://www.babs.unsw.edu.au/about/centres/cmbb_biofouling.html

Rotating Fish Cages to prevent Fouling

Andrew — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:38:07 +0000

Another way of preventing fouling and Easy cleaning is to use rotating fish cages.

Rotating Fishcages; when one side of the cage is being fouled up, it rotates and let another side handle the flow of water; this should help prevent or at least diminish the fouling process considerably. The turning of the cage should be done by a buoyancy system, where air is let into one side of the cage to turn it so that a new side is facing the current and gets cleaned.

http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/4380213.html

Oldest Live-Birth Fossil Found; Fish Had Umbilical Cord

Andrew — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:35:58 +0000

Carolyn Barry in Sydney, Australia
for National Geographic News

May 28, 2008

Remains of the world’s oldest known mother have been unearthed in the Australian outback, scientists say.

The remarkably well-preserved fossil—about 375 to 380 million years old—shows an embryo connected to its mother fish by an umbilical cord.

It is the earliest evidence of a vertebrate giving birth to live young, shifting back the date some 200 million years, said John Long, head of sciences at Museum Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, and lead author of a new study describing the find.

(See a prehistoric time line.)

The fossil is also the earliest record of vertebrate sex, since live birth occurs when an ovum, or egg, has been fertilized internally by male sex cells.

“Having such advanced reproduction for a fish that primitive is amazing,” Long said.

Evidence of live birth—as opposed to egg laying—is extremely rare and has only been found in a few fossils of dolphin-like reptiles called ichthyosaurs and marine lizards known as mosasaurs, Long said.

The new fossil captures a long-extinct placoderm, a primitive, shark-like armored fish.

(Related: “Shark Ate Amphibian Ate Fish: First ‘Food-Chain Fossil’” [November 8, 2007].)

Dinosaurs of the Sea

Often called the “dinosaurs of the sea,” placoderms were the ruling class of marine creatures for 70 million years—in the middle of the Paleozoic period—until their extinction about 360 million years ago.

Evolutionary Innovation

Michael Lee, an evolutionary biologist at the South Australian Museum, was not involved in the new research.

“Live-bearing and maternal nourishment of embryos is a very important evolutionary innovation, which we ourselves exhibit,” Lee said.

“The evidence that the included individual is an embryo [rather than ingested prey] is very strong—it’s the same species, the right size to be an embryo, in the correct location within the body, and has what appear to be umbilical structures.”

Live birth “might be preserved more commonly than we thought. Now that we know what to look for, it might be noticed more often,” he added.

In fact, a reevaluation of a fossil found in 1986 reveals that it is a second placoderm fossil with three embryos nestled inside the mother. Study author Long had found the second specimen, a Gogonasus fossil, on an expedition to Gogo funded by a National Geographic Society grant. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society).

More information can be found at: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080528-mother-fossil_2.html

Warming threatens Australian fisheries

Andrew — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:44 +0000

Changes in sea temperatures, currents, winds, rainfall, sea levels and extreme weather events threaten to adversely affect fish and shellfish numbers, said a report by the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Australia’s A$220 million salmon industry off the southern island state of Tasmania could be the hardest hit as salmon are already cultivated close to their upper thermal limit.

By 2030 sea surface temperatures in the South Tasman Sea are expected to rise by 0.6 to 0.9 degrees Celsius and along the northwest coast of Australia between 0.3 and 0.6 degrees Celsius, says Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.

“This report is yet another reminder that climate change imposes costs on this nation — costs not only in terms of our way of life, but in terms of the economic costs to our industries and to our communities,” said Climate Change Minister Penny Wong.

Australia’s aquaculture industries would have to adapt to climate change through selective breeding and by regulating their marine environments, said the CSIRO report.

“Australian fisheries and aquaculture management policies do not currently incorporate the effects of climate variability or climate change in setting harvest levels or developing future strategies,” said the report.

Click here to read the report

FAO – Fish farming may struggle to keep up with global demand

Andrew — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:59:58 +0000

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in a recent report has expressed concerns that the aquaculture industry may struggle to meet future world demand for fish as a rising global population consumes more and more fish and small farmers in poor countries face difficulties in exporting their produce.

The report says that the need for more fish from aquaculture has been heightened, because so-called traditional capture fisheries from the world’s seas, lakes and rivers have reached a plateau in terms of production and the aquaculture sector will need to produce 80.5 million tons per year just to maintain current per capita fish consumption

The report states that “The question remains whether the aquaculture sector can grow fast enough to sustain projected demand for fish while ensuring consumer protection, maintain environmental integrity and achieving social responsibility”

Surprisingly, the rapid growth of the aquaculture sector is suggested to be slowing, with previous yearly growth rates of over 10 per cent from 1985 to 1995 declining to 7 per cent in the following decade.

Click here for the source of this information

Aggression in Yellowtail Kingfish Juveniles

Andrew — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:59:21 +0000

Studies by Sakakura and Tsukamoto (2003) segmented 3 sizes of yellowtail kingfish juveniles 12 days after they hatch. These are 42% small (6-8mm), 50% medium (8-10mm) and 8% large (10-12mm). of the 8% of the population of large juveniles, about 20-30% showed aggression towards the small juveniles.

This aggression involves chasing and canibalism.

Aggression was not shown towards the medium juveniles.

Grading of the large juveniles from the population prevents this ‘bullying’ however, the small juveniles appear to be on a degenerative “trajectory” anyway.

Sakakura and Tsukamoto found that the best way to handle yellowtail kingfish juveniles was at night when they become semi-dormant and float towards the surface of the tank.

Further information can be found in Sakakura and Tsukamoto’s paper titled Size hetrogeneity, growth potential and aggression in juvenile yellowtail kingfish.