Does marine fish farming affect local small‐scale fishery catches? A case study in the NW Mediterranean Sea

Fish farms have been shown to aggregate large numbers of wild fish in their surroundings. Although little is known about how this affects the local fishery, two hypotheses have been put forward; a trapping and a protecting effect on wild fish. This study provides the first monitoring of commercial and recreational fishing activity at a fish farm. We assessed the effect on the small‐scale fishery analysing the differences between fishing in farm proximity and away from the farm (in terms of catch rate, income and catch composition). Moreover, we estimated the biomass removal from fishing activities by farm employees inside the farm. The study was conducted from January 2011 to June 2012 at a Gilthead seabream farm in the NW Mediterranean. The findings revealed a relevant amount of commercial and recreational fishing effort in farm proximity. Yet, the results showed no benefit or difference of fishing in close proximity to the farm compared with areas away from the farm. Thus, we conclude that farm‐aggregated fish are protected from the commercial fleet by the farm leasehold area, but remain vulnerable to hidden fishing practices inside the farm, where farm employees harvest more than 4 t of wild fish annually.     

Quantifying current and future risks of invasiveness of non-native aquatic species in highly urbanised estuarine ecosystems—A case study of the River Neretva Estuary (Eastern Adriatic Sea: Croatia and Bosnia–Herzegovina)

Biological invasions are a major driver of global environmental change as invasive non-native species can exert severe environmental impacts on invaded ecosystems. Estuaries are especially vulnerable to biological invasions, which in highly urbanised areas are further facilitated by introduction pathways linked to commercial activities. This study provides a risk screening of non-native invasive species for the highly urbanised River Neretva Estuary (Eastern Adriatic Sea: Croatia and Bosnia–Herzegovina). In total, 12 species of non-native aquatic organisms were identified and screened for their invasiveness with the Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit. Of these species, eight were classified as carrying a high risk of invasiveness under current climate conditions and nine under future climate conditions. Amongst the high-risk species, blue crab Callinectes sapidus has already caused impacts in the risk assessment area, where it also represents an important economic resource. The “horizon” species Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas and Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum also carried a high risk of invasiveness, which for the latter species applied under predicted global warming. The present findings will contribute towards preventative management and control measures for the conservation of the natural ecosystem of the River Neretva Estuary whilst accounting for aquatic farming demands.     

A scientometric mapping of research on Aeromonas infection in fish across the world (1998–2020)

Aeromonas spp are the most common devastating fish bacterial pathogens associated with a wide range of cultured freshwater fish resulting in mass mortality. The present study plots the Aeromonas research output in fish during 1998–2020 by means of the Web of Science (WoS) database. A total of 1944 publications were used for this investigation to evaluate the scientific productivity in this selected subject area. Global publication share, rank, and its development in terms of research and bibliometric indices such as overall citations, h-index, and average citation per paper were also analysed. China ranked first in terms of total publications among the most productive countries and accounted for 26.18% of the total publications. The network visualisation map revealed that the lead collaborating country was China; however, the collaboration between countries was found to be very less. Lokta’s law was noticed not to be valid for Aeromonas research. The study showed that the funding granted to the research investigations and their research productivity in terms of total publications were correlated positively. The results of the current study displayed the trend of “Aeromonas infection in fish” related research investigations published during 1998–2020. This study also highlighted the focused research areas on this topic on which the future areas of research can be determined by fellow researchers in this specific field. This study also suggests enhancing the research efforts on this bacterial pathogen which has the potential to implicate huge economic loss to the fish farming population in the world.

     

Is the establishment of MPAs enough to preserve endangered intertidal species? The case of Patella ferruginea in Mal di Ventre Island (W Sardinia,Italy)

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Do cannibalistic fish possess an intrinsic higher growth capacity than others? A case study in the Asian redtail catfish Hemibagrus nemurus (Valenciennes, 1840)

This study relied on the day‐by‐day analysis of bioenergetics and prey size preference in larvae and juveniles of Hemibagrus nemurus selected at random, held in isolation (28.5°C, 12L:12D) and feeding ad libitum on conspecifics [21 fish, 12–46 mm total length (TL), dry mass (DM) of 1–145 mg]. Several traits concur to make young H. nemurus highly cannibalistic: (1) high predation capacities (largest prey = 88% and 70% TL in fish of 8 and >40 mm TL, respectively), (2) opportunistic feeding behaviours with no marked size preference and (3) an unusual combination of high food intake (>100% DM at 1 mg DM) and very high gross conversion efficiency (>0.70). A growth model was constructed from the top performances of fish feeding maximally (16 of 21 fish) and indicated that the risk of cannibalism would be high and permanent except for meal frequencies over five daily meals. Cannibals emerging spontaneously under communal rearing (6 fish L^?1, three daily meals) grew more slowly or just at the same rate as predicted by the growth model constructed from siblings selected at random. This indicates that the individuals that become cannibals do not possess higher intrinsic capacities for growth than others.     

Is it possible to differentiate between environmental and fishery effects on abundance‐biomass variation? A case study of blackspot seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo) in the Strait of Gibraltar

We assessed the potential for simulation and modelling of the blackspot seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo) population in the Strait of Gibraltar to discriminate the environmental effects of fishery impacts. A discrete biomass–abundance dynamic model was implemented to obtain a simulated monthly time series of blackspot seabream biomass. On this simulated time series, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models were fitted. The best ARIMA fit provided a significant correlation of 0.76 and persistence index higher than 0.85. The proportion of variance non‐explained by the ARIMA models was correlated with a time series of sea surface temperature (SST) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The analysis of global, annual and winter correlation between the proportion of variance not explained by the ARIMA models and environmental variables showed that significant associations were not detected over the full time series. Our analysis therefore suggests that overexploitation is the main factor responsible for the commercial depletion of blackspot seabream in the Strait of Gibraltar.     

Using SSR Marker to Trace Chinese Shrimp Fenneropenaeus chinensis Released in Natural Sea — A Feasible Strategy for Assessment of Release Effect in Natural Resources Recovery Program

Enhancement release has been proven effective in natural resources recovery of Chinese shrimp Fenneropenaeus chinensis in the last several decades in China,however,to assess the effectiveness of enhancement release,we still need to develop a high-efficient and easy-operational method to replace those physical-tagging release method with labor intensive,size-and number-limited.In the present study,single(with maternal known)parentage identification using eight simple sequence repeat(SSR)markers genotype fingerprint was used to trace Chinese shrimp released in Bohai Bay in2013.A total of 884 shrimp spawners were collected from two hatcheries in Tianjin City respectively after enhancement release of shrimp larvae in May 2013.A total of 844 shrimp samples were recaptured around the release location approximately 4 months after the shrimp larvae were released into the natural sea.Genotype data of 8 SSR loci of the 1,726 samples were used for maternal-offspring parentage identification using CEervus 3.0 software.The allele number in each locus ranged from 8 to 68 with an average value of 33.25,which produced the cumulative exclusion probability with one parent known of all these sight loci up to 99%.Among the 844 recaptured shrimp samples,448(♂:♀=212:232,gender information was lost for 4 samples)were successfully traced to their 337 maternal parents using a logarithm of odds(LOD)3.0 threshold.Among these 337 maternal parents,253 had a single offspring,62 had two offspring,18 had three offspring,3 had four offspring,and 1 had five offspring.For the first time,a large number of released shrimp were identified from recapture samples,and this study showed that it is possible to trace all released Chinese shrimp without using any type of physical tag in enhancement release activities.This not only means more precise recapture ratio assessment than ever expected,but also this method demonstrates an effective method for large-scale hatchery release as well as for organisms used in hatchery enhancement which are not suitable for physical tagging.     

Screening and characterization of sex-specific DNA fragments in the freshwater fish matrinchã, Brycon amazonicus (Teleostei: Characiformes: Characidae)

The matrinch? Brycon amazonicus, a commercially important freshwater fish resource, has no heteromorphic sex chromosomes so far described. In the present study, we performed a screening of sex-associated DNA markers in this species, through the use of a random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assay and a genomic DNA restriction digestion analysis. DNA digestions evidenced no differences between sexes. Sixty-six random primers were used in pooled and individual DNA samples of males and females, and the analysis of the RAPD fingerprints revealed one female sex-associated band. Cloning and sequencing of this band led to the identification of two distinct DNA segments. While one of the isolated fragments showed a significant identity with a described protein gene (phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, class W), the other fragment, composed of 535?bp, corresponds to a novel DNA marker. Further experiments were performed with this second DNA fragment in order to verify its sex-specificity. Data on dot blot hybridization, using total DNA of both sexes, confirmed its female-specificity in B. amazonicus. A primer set was designed based on its sequence data and used in PCR with DNA samples of this species, leading to diagnose the animals' sexes with a 100?% overall accuracy through a sequence characterized amplified region approach. No amplification results were found for two other species of the genus-B. orbignyanus and B. lundii. The obtained data can lead to the hypothesis that B. amazonicus may present heteromorphic sex chromosomes that should be in an early phase of differentiation.     

Levels of Vitellogenin in Male Japanese Medaka (Oryzias latipes) Exposed to the Chemotherapeutics: Oxytetracycline,Romet-30®, and Copper Sulfate

ABSTRACT

Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) were exposed to oxytetracycline and Romet-30^® at daily doses via feed of 0.06 mg, 0.11 mg, and 0.28 mg per gram body weight for 11 days, and at daily doses of 0.05 mg, 0.10 mg, and 0.15 mg per gram body weight for 5 days, respectively. In addition, fish were exposed to copper sulfate in their aquaria water at 1.85 mg/L for 1 h each day (over a span of 1 day, 7 consecutive days, or 1 day in every 3 to 5 days for a total of seven doses). Vitellogenin levels were measured in fish using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Vitellogenin levels were not induced from exposure to either oxytetracycline or Romet-30® (P > 0.05); however, copper sulfate for 1 h on 1 day showed a decrease in vitellogenin from the control fish and other treatment groups (P = 0.007). Under these test conditions, oxytetracycline, Romet-30, and copper sulfate were not found to act in medaka as estrogenic compounds by inducing vitellogenin.     

Simulation of copepod biomass by a prey–predator model in Hiuchi-nada,central part of the Seto Inland Sea: does copepod biomass affect the recruitment to the shirasu (Japanese larval anchovy <Emphasis Type="Italic">Engraulis japonicus</Emphasis>) fishery?

We have modeled the prey–predator dynamics between nutrients, phytoplankton, and copepods in Hiuchi-nada, central part of the Seto Inland Sea. The model parameters were estimated by stepwise regression using data sampled from 2001 to 2005. We re-created the fluctuations in copepod biomass in the spring–summer of 2001–2004 by model simulation and investigated the relationship between the re-created copepod biomass and anchovy Engraulis japonicus reproductive success rate in Hiuchi-nada. The anchovy reproductive success rate was proportional to the copepod biomass during the last 10 days of May, a period that immediately preceded anchovy recruitment. This relationship indicates that a possible key factor in the regulation of anchovy population levels is the fluctuation in abundance of the copepod assemblage and that the crucial period for anchovy recruitment in Hiuchi-nada would be the period just before anchovy recruitment to the shirasu (body length: approx. 20–35 mm) fishery. These results provide a potential framework for forecasting the anchovy recruitment level that is based on both larval abundance and survival rate as estimated from the biomass of copepods in the pre-recruitment period of anchovy.