Risk factor analysis for sea lice, Caligus rogercresseyi, levels in farmed salmonids in southern Chile

Sea lice, Caligus rogercresseyi, are ectoparasitic copepods, which severely affect the salmon farming industry in southern Chile, reducing the health status of fish and producing both direct and indirect economic losses. Local farmers have reported increasing infestation levels since 2004, reaching a peak in 2007. In response to this situation, the Chilean Fisheries Service (Sernapesca) developed a surveillance programme; the first step of which consisted of a general survey of salmon farms. This survey included documenting counts of parasite burdens on fish and measurements of several husbandry and environmental factors providing an evaluation of risk factors for the observed infestation levels. The information collected was analysed using a linear mixed model technique, which takes into account the clustered structure of data, decomposing the unexplained variation and assigning it to different aggregation levels of the productive system. Geographical zones, fish species, treatment against sea lice performed 1 month before sampling, stocking density, fish weight and water salinity were the variables significantly associated with sea lice burdens. In contrast, treatments performed 2-3 months before sampling, use of photoperiod in sea cages and water temperature, were not significant. There was significant unexplained variation at all aggregation levels, i.e. sub-zone, fish farm and cage level, with the fish farm level showing the greatest variation.     

黄海玉筋鱼繁殖习性的初步研究

1999~2004年来,对黄海玉筋鱼渔场变动进行了全年跟踪调查。产卵期对沿海小型流动渔具及定置张网渔业进行了调查,研究其繁殖习性。研究结果表明,在黄海35N°以北近海,存在着范围很广的玉筋鱼产卵场,主要产卵场有3处,各自相互隔离。本文主要以北部产卵场为重点,开展该鱼繁殖习性的研究。北部产卵场玉筋鱼产卵盛期为11月,Ⅳ~V期卵巢内相同卵径的频率分布十分集中,为明显的单峰型,属一次性产卵类型。1龄玉筋鱼95%以上性成熟,作为小型鱼种,个体绝对生殖力很高,纯重在1.8~13.8g、体长在90~200mm,个体绝对生殖力一般在0.60~4.20×104粒,个体生殖力随年龄增长而增长。玉筋鱼群体组成简单,生殖群体最高仅为3龄,以1~2龄为主,年度发生量有波动,但不大。过度利用剩余群体以及对幼鱼的破坏,已导致了北部及西部产卵场的发生量连年锐减,实现可持续利用这一资源也是该项研究的重要目的之一。     

Enhanced production of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus in integrated open-water cultivation with Atlantic salmon Salmo salar

Survivorship and performance was investigated for two size classes of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus grown adjacent to open-water Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) cultivation on the north-west coast of Scotland. Juvenile P. lividus were maintained for 12 months at 0 m, 50 m and 2.5 km from the mariculture activity. The sea urchins at the 0 m station showed higher survivorship than at the 50 m and 2.5 km stations and had significantly greater test diameter than at the 50 m station. Only urchins at 0 m developed gonads and, although small, these were of acceptable or excellent colouration in terms of their marketability. Adult P. lividus were maintained for 3 months at 0 m and 15 m from the mariculture activity, either with or without additional macroalgae Laminaria spp. Sea urchins at the 0 m station and fed additional macroalgae showed higher gonadal growth than sea urchins at the 15 m station held without additional food. Gonad colouration in the adult urchins, irrespective of the treatment, was acceptable or excellent. The 0 m station also received significantly greater quantities of particulate organic matter (POM) than the other stations in both the juvenile and adult experiments. At the 0 m station, the presence of the fatty acid 22:1n-11 and elevated levels of the long chain n-3 fatty acid DHA 22:6n-3 in the gonadal tissue of the urchins confirmed the consumption of fish farm derived POM and highlighted the potential human health benefits from consuming sea urchin roe.The results show that P. lividus can thrive in the salmon culture environment and suggests that the integration of P. lividus with Atlantic salmon can provide a viable means to culture this species, even at this northerly latitude. Salmon-sea urchin co-culture would enable fish farms to diversify into producing a second highly valuable product and would reduce the increasing worldwide pressure of sea urchin fisheries on wild stocks.     

Seawater causes rapid trace metal mobilisation in coastal lowland acid sulfate soils: Implications of sea level rise for water quality

Coastal floodplains are highly vulnerable to inundation with saline water and the likelihood of inundation will increase with sea level rise. Sediment samples from floodplains containing coastal lowland acid sulfate soils (CLASS) in eastern Australia were subjected to increasing seawater concentration to examine the probable effects of sea level rise on acidity and metal desorption. Ten soils were mixed with synthetic seawater concentrations varying from 0% to 100% at a solid:solution ratio of 1:10 for 4 h. There was a slight decrease in pH (≈ 0.5 units) with increasing seawater concentration following treatment, yet, calculated acidity increased significantly. In most soil treatments, Al was the dominant component of the calculated acidity pool. Al dominated the exchange complex in the CLASS and, correspondingly, was the major metal ion desorbed. In general, concentrations of soluble and exchangeable Al, Fe²⁺, Ni, Mn and Zn in all soil extracts increased with increasing salinity. Increasing trace metal concentrations with increasing seawater concentration is attributed to the combined effects of exchange processes and acidity. The increasing ionic strength of the seawater treatments displaces trace metals and protons adsorbed on sediments, causing an initial decrease in pH. Hydrolysis of desorbed acidic metal cations can further contribute to acidity and increase mobilisation of trace metals. These findings imply that saline inundation of CLASS environments, even by relatively brackish water may cause rapid, shorter-term water quality changes and a pulse release of acidity due to desorption of acidic metal cations.     

南黄海族小黄鱼昼夜渔获率差异的统计学分析

利用2004年度东海区重点渔场底曳拖网渔业资源监测资料,从中选用小黄鱼网次渔获率作为指标值,应用LSD方法对南黄海族小黄鱼昼夜渔获率差异进行了统计学分析,以揭示小黄鱼昼夜的活动规律。结果表明,小黄鱼在不同的洄游阶段昼夜网次间渔获率无显著性差异,昼夜无垂直移动现象,常年处于底层,为典型的底层鱼类;在利用底曳拖网船进行渔业资源调查时,无需修正昼夜网次间小黄鱼的渔获率,用获取的调查数据即可估算资源量。     

东海区短鳄齿鱼数量分布及其与环境因子的关系

根据2005年东海区(26°30′～35°00′N、121°00′～127°00′E)渔业资源监测底拖网调查资料,结合广义相加模型(GAM)方法分析了东海区短鳄齿鱼资源的时空分布特征以及水深、水温、盐度与数量分布的关系。结果表明:东海区短鳄齿鱼主要分布区域为:28°00′～30°00′N、123°00′～126°30′E;生物量季节变化明显,以秋季(9月)最高,春季(4月)最低;短鳄齿鱼适宜水深、温度、盐度范围分别为70～110 m、17～23℃、34.3～35.2。结合东海海流分布特点,初步推断短鳄齿鱼为暖水性海洋小型鱼类,其生物量分布和季节变化受台湾暖流影响。     

FOAM, a new simple benthic degradative module for the LAMP3D model: an application to a Mediterranean fish farm

The modelling framework already introduced by Doglioli, Magaldi, Vezzulli and Tucci to predict the potential impact of a marine fish farm is improved following different directions, namely (1) real historic current-metre data are used to force the simulations, (2) settling velocity values specifically targeting Mediterranean fish species are used, and (3) a new benthic degradative module, the Finite Organic Accumulation Module, is added to the modelling framework. The Finite Organic Accumulation Module uses the output of the other functional units of the modelling framework to calculate the organic load on the seabed. The Finite Organic Accumulation Module considers the natural capability of the seafloor in absorbing part of the organic load. Different remineralization rates reflect the sediment stress level according to the work of Findlay and Watling. Organic degradation for both uneaten feed and faeces is evaluated by changing the release modality (continuous and periodical) and by varying the settling velocities. It is found that the maximum impact on the benthic community is observed either for quickly sinking uneaten feed released twice a day, or for less intense near-bottom current conditions. If both the above-mentioned scenarios coexist, a high stress level is established in the sediment. The model also suggests that the use of self-feeders in cages can reduce farm impacts significantly. These results show how the new and more complete modelling framework presented here is able to improve the objectivity in the decision-making processes and how it may be successfully used for planning and monitoring purposes.     

Annual weather variability and its influence on the population dynamics of Calanus finmarchicus

The reaction of the population of Calanus finmarchicus to relatively extreme annual cycles of weather in the North Sea was investigated by one-dimensional model simulations. A population dynamics model for C. finmarchicus was coupled with a physical and a biological upper-layer model for phosphate, phytoplankton and detritus to simulate the development of the successive stages of C. finmarchicus. Observed annual weather cycles were used to drive the physical water column model, the results of which were then input to the plankton model. The simulations yielded the temporal development of all stages of C. finmarchicus over an annual cycle in terms of numbers and weights. Compared with the results reported for 1984 by Carlotti and Radach (1996; Limnol . Oceanogr . 41: 522–539), it appears that the temporal range for the occurrence of the peak concentration of C. finmarchicus may be 2 weeks in the northern North Sea. The simulated variability is in accordance with observations. Years with more continuous primary production such as the year 1984, which was cloudy and windy during the summer, may then provide the optimum conditions with respect to producing an abundance of zooplankton during the following year.     

Beluga (Huso huso, Brandet 1869) bioenergetics under dietary methylmercury

Recently, there have been reports of increasing amounts of mercury (Hg) in muscles of beluga (Huso huso, Brandet 1869) in the Caspian Sea which exceeds its guideline level for food in the UK. Our intensive effort was to investigate the effects of dietary methylmercury (MeHg) on Beluga bioenergetics. Beluga juveniles were fed with four diets containing MeHg (control: 0.04 mg kg⁻¹; low: 0.76 mg kg⁻¹; medium: 7.88 mg kg⁻¹; and high: 16.22 mg kg⁻¹) for 70 days. There were significant differences in food consumption among the treatment groups. After 42 days, all individuals of the high dose died. After 35 and 70 days, all treatment groups (low, medium and high) showed a significant decline in their growth rate, unlike the control group. They also showed considerable lower specific growth rates (SGR) comparing to the control group. All treatment groups assimilated the dietary MeHg into their muscle tissue in a dose-dependent manner. Assimilation percent was significant among the treatment groups at days 35 and 70, but it was lower in the first 35 days than in the second 35 days. The data obtained from the dietary MeHg concentration and bioaccumulation rates were modeled for better natural resources management of the Caspian Sea.     

鲈鱼的形态生态特征与养殖效果的关系

本文根据现有文献和笔者的研究，比较了不同产地、不同种群鲈鱼的形态、生态特征和各地的养殖结果，分析了产生不同结果的主要原因。