The value of sea urchin,Lytechinus variegatus,egesta consumed by shrimp,Litopenaeus vannamei

Sea urchins produce high‐energy, membrane‐bound fecal pellets that contain residual nutrients and large quantities of microbiota. These egesta are readily consumed by the shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. Egesta of the sea urchin, Lytechinus variegatus, were evaluated as a feed supplement or total replacement for a commercial shrimp diet. Shrimp were stocked at 0.49 g ± 0.06 g initial body weight and housed individually in 2.8‐L tanks in a commercial recirculating zebrafish system. Shrimp were assigned to one of six diets: commercial shrimp feed, reference sea urchin feed, collected dried sea urchin egesta, collected wet sea urchin egesta, half ration of shrimp feed and half collected wet sea urchin egesta, and egesta naturally produced by two sea urchins in polyculture. Equivalent dry matter amounts of each diet were proffered to shrimp in each treatment twice daily, except for those that had complete access to natural egesta excreted by sea urchins in polyculture. Sea urchins were proffered a reference sea urchin feed at 2% body weight daily. After 27 days, shrimp proffered collected dried or wet egesta did not differ significantly in percent weight gain and showed the lowest weight gain. The percent weight gain of shrimp fed the commercial shrimp diet did not differ significantly from that of the shrimp fed half commercial shrimp diet and half egesta. The highest weight gain was recorded for those shrimp that consumed the untouched egesta produced by sea urchins in polyculture. These data suggest that consumed egesta have noteworthy nutritional value and therefore would be beneficial to the culture of extractive species in an integrated multitrophic aquaculture system.     

The future of genetic engineering to provide essential dietary nutrients and improve growth performance in aquaculture: Advantages and challenges

Advancements in gene technology in recent years have been driving the aquaculture industry forward. Improvements in growth performance, feed efficiency, and omega‐3 content are goals of the industry that could capitalize on applications of genetic engineering. One of the major challenges in the industry is to reduce the use of fish meal and oil, to improve the environmental and economic sustainability of aquaculture. The recent development of genetically engineered feed ingredients is one potential solution to the looming problem of fish meal and oil dependency. Furthermore, the development of transgenic fish has potential to improve production efficiency and other future desirable characteristics that relate to feed utilization and product quality. New gene technologies are beginning to revolutionize how we produce our food, and in aquaculture, will ultimately reduce pressure on wild fish stocks, help to preserve natural aquatic ecosystems, and improve nutritional profiles of farmed fish for human consumption. The purpose of this review is to provide an update on the current applications of genetic engineering technology to improve aquaculture through nutrition, including the development and use of transgenic feed ingredients, transgenic fish, and ultimately their impacts on nutrition, product quality, and consumers.     

Fine‐scale habitat partitioning of Chilean and Peale's dolphins and their overlap with aquaculture

1. Predictive species distribution models (SDMs) have become powerful tools to determine habitat use patterns of mobile marine predators and their spatial overlap with potentially impacting anthropogenic activities.
2. This study used SDMs to investigate fine‐scale habitat use patterns of two poorly known and broadly sympatric coastal delphinids, Chilean dolphins (Cephalorhynchus eutropia) and Peale's dolphins (Lagenorhynchus australis), and their spatial interactions with intense aquaculture farming activities in the Chiloé archipelago, southern Chile.
3. A long‐term dataset (2002–2012) of boat‐based dolphin sightings and concurrently in situ collected environmental and anthropogenic variables was analysed using binomial Generalized Additive Models to investigate ecological drivers of each species' fine‐scale distribution and to predict dolphin occurrence spatially.
4. Chilean dolphins preferred shallow (<30 m deep), turbid waters, close to shore (<500 m) and river mouths which often placed them in sheltered bays and channels used intensively by shellfish farms. Peale's dolphins were also found in shallow waters but occurred over a wider range of conditions along more open or exposed coastlines. Both species had to navigate extensive salmon and shellfish farming sites to transit between areas of important habitat.
5. Sightings and predicted occurrence maps showed a clear pattern of spatial habitat partitioning between species, which remained stable across the 11 year study period. The identification of important habitat for Chilean dolphins warrants the consideration of spatially explicit conservation measures to limit the potential effects of overlapping salmon and shellfish farming.
6. The observed differences in ecological plasticity of the two sympatric species should be considered when evaluating and mitigating the effects of environmental change and ongoing anthropogenic pressures on their nearshore habitat. The estimated species–environment relationships could also be used to predict where dolphin habitat and anthropogenic activities are most likely to overlap in other parts of the species' ranges.

     

Pectic hydrolysates in the diet of silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen): Growth performance,blood and liver biochemistry,histological parameters and intestinal contents

The aim of this study was to investigate the prebiotic potential of pectin hydrolysates that were extracted from agroindustrial waste (apple pomace—AP and passion fruit peel—PFP) and were added to the diet of silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen). A 49‐day biological assay was conducted, and five test diets were evaluated: one diet was a control diet and the other four diets included pectin hydrolysates (2.5 and 5 g/kg). At 49 experimental days, biometric data and biological material were collected to determine the performance, plasma and liver and histological parameters and to evaluate the intestinal contents. The results were analysed by the normality test, which was followed by an analysis of the variance; the treatment means were compared by an orthogonal contrast analysis at a 5% level of significance. The inclusion of 2.5 g/kg apple pomace hydrolysates resulted in a greater production of butyric acid, increased thickness of the muscular layer and higher goblet cell count in the intestine. The inclusion of 5 g/kg apple pomace hydrolysates led to a greater concentration of liver protein. Further studies are needed to increase the knowledge about the use of these additives in the diet of silver catfish and to establish levels that allow greater gains for the species.     

Impact of Caligus treatments on unit costs of heterogeneous salmon farms in Chile

We measure the impact that sanitary treatments that control ectoparasite Caligus rogercresseyi abundance have on unit production costs of Salmo salar farms in Chile. We follow complete production cycles for a sample of farms between 2009 and 2015. We estimate a simultaneous salmon biomass growth and Caligus abundance model. The statistical analysis determines the effect of antiparasitic treatments, location of farms, environmental conditions and Caligus abundance on the salmon growth profile. Using outside cost information, we simulate how unit production costs vary by treatment and farm characteristics. Our results suggest that unit production costs increase on average by $1.4?US/kg with Caligus and treatments. Treatment costs are compensated by higher harvesting levels, and unit production costs are invariant to the situation without treatment. All estimated effects differ depending on farm’s environmental and spatial conditions, suggesting that the design of cost-effective intervention calls for discriminatory regulation under heterogeneous conditions.     

Observation of three‐dimensional flow structures and effluent transport around fish cages using a towed ADCP and free‐fall multi‐parameter profiler

A field campaign was conducted around salmon cages, using a combination of a towed ADCP and a free‐fall multi‐parameter profiler, in order to investigate flow structures and the possible distribution of effluent materials. Two transect observations showed that hydrographic conditions changed dramatically within 5 days, from highly stratified open water conditions to weak stratification. Three‐dimensional observation revealed that flow was blocked behind the cages and that the blockage was reduced as the distance from the cages increased. The flow speed was positively correlated with the intensity of the backscattering signal. The R² value was high immediately behind the cages and decreased with distance from the cages. The flow time series behind the cages exhibited a k^–2 power law spectrum that was consistent with a typical internal wave spectrum. This suggests that eddies shed from the cages were highly influenced by stratification. We estimated the rate of kinetic energy dissipation, , from YODA Profiler data based on the Thorpe scale approach. We also estimated the eddy diffusivity coefficient, . Both and followed a lognormal probability density function. The mean was consistent with a one‐dimensional diffusion model assessed from the R² values of flow speed and backscatter intensity.     

智能光纤浊度传感器设计与试验

浊度是指水体中悬浮颗粒的含量，在水产养殖中，悬浮颗粒由大量的细菌、病原体组成，颗粒物浓度过大，易危害水生动物的生存。传统的浊度检测技术易受环境光、色度、温度等因素的影响，稳定性差、精度低。为此设计了基于IEEE1451.2的智能光纤浊度传感器，该传感器由光学检测模块、信号变送模块、智能处理模块组成。光学检测模块采用880nm红外发光二极管作为光源，采用90°散射光检测法，有效降低了色度对浊度检测的影响。信号变送模块采用正向比例积分电路、I/V转换、滤波、检波电路对采集到的散射光电流信号进行处理，得到一个线性关系良好的直流浊度电压信号。为了提高传感器的精确度，设计了基于IEEE1451.2的智能处理模块，构建了温度补偿算法，采用校正TEDS参数完成对浊度的温度补偿，提高了浊度测量的准确度。对传感器性能进行测试试验，结果表明传感器准确度误差在±1.5%以内，稳定性误差在±1.0%以内，满足水产养殖对光纤浊度传感器的需求，具有较高的可靠性。     

A computer vision system to analyse the swimming behaviour of farmed fish in commercial aquaculture facilities: A case study using cage-held Atlantic salmon

Knowledge of fish behaviour plays an important role in aquaculture farm management. Video systems are the most common and cost-effective way of observing behaviours in commercial aquaculture operations. However long term observation is not feasible due to a limited ability to analyse footage manually. This paper describes preliminary findings obtained via computer vision software that was developed to automatically analyse fish movement and behaviours in aquaculture sea cages. Results show that the system is capable of detecting fish shapes in video recordings and from these shapes quantifying changes in swimming speed and direction continuously throughout the day. Also variations between days were detected and these may have been associated with the daily shift in the tidal cycle. The system has the potential to act as an alarm to farm operators, informing them about unusual fish behaviours on a continuous, real-time basis. It also has potential to assist in the evaluation of fish welfare.     

耕水机在罗非鱼精养池塘的应用效果分析

选择两组罗非鱼(Tilapia)精养池塘作为研究对象,通过设置实验塘和对照塘的方法,研究耕水机的使用对精养池塘水质变化情况和养殖效果的影响.结果表明:与对照池塘相比,实验池塘的水质稳定,池水化学耗氧量的平均值降低了1.56 mg/L,总悬浮物的平均含量下降了24.3028 mg/L,总氨氮的平均浓度下降了0.2418 ...     

不列颠哥伦比亚黑鳕鱼养殖的潜在经济效益

主要研究不列颠哥伦比亚省黑鳕鱼养殖的潜在经济效益。不列颠哥伦比亚省一个黑鳕鱼苗种场已经开始以黑鳕鱼海水网箱养殖为目的苗种培育,这个唯一的黑鳕鱼苗种场培育出的鱼苗将有效地支持该地区目前的黑鳕鱼养殖。该地区黑鳕鱼养殖区纯收益受2个关键问题影响:一是如果全球参与黑鳕鱼养殖;二是如果不列颠哥伦比亚限制黑鳕鱼的养殖,而其他地区却不限制。研究结果表明:在不列颠哥伦比亚采用落后的水产养殖模式,可能获得较低的养殖利润。然而,当生产增长到期望的养殖水平时,黑鳕鱼的养殖利润将迅速下降。如果不列颠哥伦比亚野生黑鳕鱼的溢价控制在20%～25%以上,养殖禁令可能对该省和加拿大是有利的。