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Sea Cages (sea + cage)
Selected AbstractsEffects of cage netting colour and density on the skin pigmentation and stress response of Australian snapper Pagrus auratus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)AQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 13 2008Ben J Doolan Abstract The unnaturally dark pigmentation of cultured Australian snapper Pagrus auratus can be improved through dietary astaxanthin supplementation and by holding fish in tanks with a white background. The practical application of these laboratory-based findings was examined with two experiments to establish if the advantages of transferring fish to light coloured tanks before harvest could be achieved on-farm using white cages and to determine the effects of fish density on skin colour. For the first experiment, snapper (mean TL=29.7 cm) were transferred from a commercial snapper sea cage to black or white netted cages and fed diets supplemented with unesterified astaxanthin (supplied as Lucantin® Pink, BASF) at 0 or 39 mg kg,1 for 42 days. Skin colour was measured using the CIE (black,white), (green,red), (blue,yellow) colour scale. Snapper held in white netting cages became significantly lighter (higher ) than snapper held in black cages; however, values were not as high as previous laboratory-based studies in which snapper were held in white plastic-lined cages. Snapper fed astaxanthin displayed significantly greater and values, and total carotenoid concentrations after 42 days. In addition, total carotenoids were higher in fish from black than white cages. The second experiment was designed to investigate whether density reduced the improvements in skin colour achieved by holding fish in white coloured cages and whether cage colour affected stress. Snapper (mean weight=435 g) were acclimated to black cages and fed 39 mg kg,1 astaxanthin for 44 days before transferring to black or white plastic-lined cages at 14 (low), 29 (mid) or 45 (high) kg m,3 for 7 days after which time skin colour, plasma cortisol and plasma glucose concentrations were measured. Skin lightness () was greater in snapper transferred to white plastic-lined cages with the lightest coloured fish obtained from the lowest density after 7 days. Density had no effect on plasma cortisol or glucose levels after 7 days, although plasma cortisol was elevated in snapper from black cages. For improved skin colouration we recommend feeding unesterified astaxanthin at 39 mg kg,1 for approximately 6 weeks and transferring snapper to white plastic-lined cages or similar at low densities for short periods before harvest rather than producing fish in white netting sea cages subject to biofouling. [source] Pathological and epidemiological observations on rickettsiosis in cultured sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) from GreeceJOURNAL OF APPLIED ICHTHYOLOGY, Issue 6 2004F. Athanassopoulou Summary A systemic infection of a Rickettsia -like organism (RLO) in cultured sea bass is described for the first time. In hatcheries, clinical signs were lethargy, inappetence and discoloration. Twenty days after transfer to sea cages from hatcheries where the disease existed, fish showed erratic and abnormal swimming behaviour, loss of orientation, and lethargy. Cumulative mortality in colder months of the year reached 30% in hatcheries and 80% in cages. Surviving fish in cages did not show any clinical signs of RLO infection in the subsequent year. Evidence for a systemic distribution of RLO was supported by histolopathological lesions in both infected hatchery and caged fish, where the lesion profile included cranial sensory, central nervous, integumental and alimentary organ systems. Intracranial lesions were primarily characterized by an ascending histiocytic perineuritis and necrotizing congestive meningoencephalitis, with evidence for transfer of infective agents across the blood,brain barrier confirmed by the presence of RLOs within capillary endothelium and histiocytes in inflamed regions of the optic tectum and the cerebellum. In the most severe cases, infection spread to the statoacoustical (semicircular) canal system and the ependymal lining of ventricles, with marked rickettsial-laden histiocytic infiltration of the canal lumen. Integumental lesions were restricted to the oral submucosa, nares and integumental dermis of the cranium. Alimentary lesions were noted in both the liver parenchyma and mucosa/submucosa of the stomach. In all affected organs the RLOs were found by immunohistochemistry to be related to Piscirickettsia salmonis. [source] Gastric dilation and air sacculitis in farmed chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum)JOURNAL OF FISH DISEASES, Issue 3 2002J S Lumsden A syndrome affecting cultured chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum), characterized by distended abdomens, gastric dilation, air sacculitis (GDAS), increased feed conversion rates and increased mortality has been recognized in New Zealand. Affected fish were most obvious in sea cages but were also present in fresh water. Mortality rates associated with this condition were highest in late summer and approached 6% per month. A dilated and flaccid stomach, without visible rugal folds containing copious oil, watery fluid or undigested feed was typical. Gastric mucosal ulceration or inflammation were not present. The air sacculitis consisted of a thickened, dilated bladder with a mixed mucosal inflammatory infiltrate and a luminal exudate associated with large numbers of morphologically diverse bacteria. Gastric dilation or air sacculitis occurred alone or together in the same fish. In a group of 20 subclinically affected fish with or without gastric dilation, there were no significant differences in weight, length, serum osmolality, sodium, total protein or packed cell volume. Twenty-three severely affected fish had significantly (P < 0.05) higher serum osmolality but similar sodium and total protein to that of clinically normal fish. [source] Sources of Phenotypic and Genetic Variation for Seawater Growth in Five North American Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salar, StocksJOURNAL OF THE WORLD AQUACULTURE SOCIETY, Issue 3 2010William R. Wolters In 2003, pedigreed families were obtained from two St. John's River sources, Penobscot River, Gaspè, and landlocked salmon stocks. Eyed eggs were disinfected upon arrival, and incubated in separate hatching jars. Fry were transferred prior to first feeding into individual 0.1-m3 tanks receiving 8 L/min of oxygen-saturated freshwater from a recirculating biological filtration system. At approximately 30 d after the initiation of feeding, fish densities were equalized to 250 fish/tank, fed 5% of the tank's total biomass in 3,4 daily feedings. When the fish were approximately 40 g, approximately 30 fish from each family were pit tagged and stocked communally into three replicated 10-m3 smolt tanks. Approximately 1 mo prior to stocking into sea cages for performance evaluations, evaluations of serum chloride levels and gill Na+, K+ -ATPase activity were measured on subsamples from all stocks in freshwater and following seawater challenge. Smolts were stocked into sea cages in June 2005, harvested in February 2007, and evaluated for carcass weight, sex, and stage of sexual maturity. Data were analyzed by the mixed model ANOVA to determine the random effects of sire and dam (sire), and the fixed effects of sex, salmon stock, ploidy level, and replicate smolt tank on carcass weight with smolt weight as a covariate. Sire and dam variance components were significantly different from zero, and the fixed effects of salmon stock, sex × stock interaction, and smolt weight at stocking were significant (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences among sexes, replicate smolt tank, or ploidy level for carcass weight. Overall, St. John's River fish had the fastest growth with a carcass weight >4.1 kg compared with the slowest growth in landlocked fish at 1.7 kg. Grilsing was also highest in St. John's River fish (ca. 4,6%) and lowest in Penobscot River fish (0%). The sire heritability for carcass weight calculated from the sire variance component using the mixed model ANOVA or MTDFREML was 0.26 ± 0.14. Data were used to calculate breeding values on captive sibling adult brood fish, and a line selected for carcass weight was spawned in the fall of 2007, and eggs from these fish were released to industry. [source] Grow-out of juvenile seahorse Hippocampus kuda (Bleeker; Teleostei: Syngnathidae) in illuminated sea cagesAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009Luis Maria B Garcia Abstract This paper examines the feasibility of rearing 10,15-day- and 0.7,1.5-month-old seahorse Hippocampus kuda in illuminated sea cages to continue existing hatchery protocols to mass produce H. kuda for trade and enhance depleted wild stocks in their natural habitats. Thawed Acetes (a planktonic crustacean abundant in inshore seas) was fed to juvenile seahorses in lighted and unlighted sea cages while one group in lighted cages was not fed Acetes. After 10,12 weeks of rearing, both mean body weight and stretch height increased in all treatment groups, with lighted cage-reared seahorses fed Acetes being heavier (2 g) and longer (8 cm) than the other two treatment groups. Although instantaneous growth rates declined during the rearing period, these were generally higher among Acetes -fed seahorses in lighted cages (0.02,0.07) compared with those in the unlighted cages with Acetes and lighted cages without Acetes feeding. Mean survivorship in all groups ranged from 9% to 74% after the trials, but mean survivorship of juveniles in lighted cages with Acetes feeding (9,74%) was consistently lower than the two treatment groups as a likely result of crustacean and piscine predators being attracted by light and the odour of leftover Acetes in the lighted cages. These results demonstrate that light-attracted zooplankton prey supplemented by Acetes feeding may provide essential nutrients for the growth of H. kuda juveniles in illuminated sea cages. With further improvement in the grow-out protocol, it may provide a possible alternative livelihood to seahorse fishers and sufficient seed to re-populate depleted wild stocks of H. kuda. [source] Effects of cage netting colour and density on the skin pigmentation and stress response of Australian snapper Pagrus auratus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)AQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 13 2008Ben J Doolan Abstract The unnaturally dark pigmentation of cultured Australian snapper Pagrus auratus can be improved through dietary astaxanthin supplementation and by holding fish in tanks with a white background. The practical application of these laboratory-based findings was examined with two experiments to establish if the advantages of transferring fish to light coloured tanks before harvest could be achieved on-farm using white cages and to determine the effects of fish density on skin colour. For the first experiment, snapper (mean TL=29.7 cm) were transferred from a commercial snapper sea cage to black or white netted cages and fed diets supplemented with unesterified astaxanthin (supplied as Lucantin® Pink, BASF) at 0 or 39 mg kg,1 for 42 days. Skin colour was measured using the CIE (black,white), (green,red), (blue,yellow) colour scale. Snapper held in white netting cages became significantly lighter (higher ) than snapper held in black cages; however, values were not as high as previous laboratory-based studies in which snapper were held in white plastic-lined cages. Snapper fed astaxanthin displayed significantly greater and values, and total carotenoid concentrations after 42 days. In addition, total carotenoids were higher in fish from black than white cages. The second experiment was designed to investigate whether density reduced the improvements in skin colour achieved by holding fish in white coloured cages and whether cage colour affected stress. Snapper (mean weight=435 g) were acclimated to black cages and fed 39 mg kg,1 astaxanthin for 44 days before transferring to black or white plastic-lined cages at 14 (low), 29 (mid) or 45 (high) kg m,3 for 7 days after which time skin colour, plasma cortisol and plasma glucose concentrations were measured. Skin lightness () was greater in snapper transferred to white plastic-lined cages with the lightest coloured fish obtained from the lowest density after 7 days. Density had no effect on plasma cortisol or glucose levels after 7 days, although plasma cortisol was elevated in snapper from black cages. For improved skin colouration we recommend feeding unesterified astaxanthin at 39 mg kg,1 for approximately 6 weeks and transferring snapper to white plastic-lined cages or similar at low densities for short periods before harvest rather than producing fish in white netting sea cages subject to biofouling. [source] The effect of feed regime on the growth and behaviour of 1+ Atlantic salmon post-smolts (Salmo salar L.) in semi-commercial sea cagesAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 15 2007Chris Noble First page of article [source] Comparison of the swimming performance of farmed and wild gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurataAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 5 2007Fatih Basaran Abstract Farmed gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata, frequently escape from the sea cages and interact with wild populations. The impact of these interactions on the wild populations will depend, in part, on differences in performance of the bream. This study compared the swimming performance of the wild and farmed fish in a current channel. The absolute critical swimming speed (Ucrit) increased with increasing size while the relative Ucrit decreased. Even at the same length there were noticeable performance differences between the individuals. The wild sea bream have significantly higher (P<0.05) absolute Ucrit performance (0.86±0.01 m s,1) than the farmed fish (0.79±0.01 m s,1) and significantly higher (P<0.05) relative Ucrit performance (4.52±0.05 BL s,1) than the farmed fish (4.21±0.05 BL s,1). The present study suggests that cultured sea bream may not have the ability to compete with wild sea bream in native seawaters. [source] Effects of dietary squid viscera meal on growth and cadmium accumulation in tissues of Japanese seabass, Lateolabrax japonicus (Cuvier 1828)AQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 11 2006Kangsen Mai Abstract Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic environmental pollutant with a long biological half-life and can produce both hepatic and renal injuries in mammals and fish. Squid viscera meal (SVM), an effective attractant for aquatic animals, is widely used as an ingredient in aquafeeds. However, SVM is rich in Cd and its complexes. A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary SVM on the growth and Cd deposition in tissues of Japanese seabass, Lateolabrax japonicus. Three practical diets were formulated to contain 0, 50 and 100 g SVM kg,1 diet, respectively, containing 0.21, 7.26 and 12.08 mg Cd kg,1 diet. Each diet was randomly assigned to triplicate groups of 80 Japanese seabass (mean initial weight, 10.89±0.21 g) in floating sea cages (1.5 × 1.5 × 2.0 m). Fish were fed twice daily (06:30 and 16:30 hours) to satiation for 8 weeks. The results showed that there were no significant differences in fish survival among three dietary treatments, but significant higher specific growth rates (SGR) were observed in the fish fed diets with 50 or 100 g SVM kg,1 diet than that from the control group (P<0.05). The Cd concentrations in the kidney, liver and gill were found in a decreasing order at each treatment, and positively correlated with dietary Cd levels. Fish fed diets with 50 and 100 g SVM kg,1 diet had significantly higher Cd accumulations in the kidney (3.25, 5.85 mg kg,1), liver (0.76, 1.26 mg kg,1) and gill (0.42, 0.58 mg kg,1) compared with the control group (0.82, 0.34 and 0.32 mg kg,1 respectively) (P<0.05). The Cd concentration in fish muscle; however, was undetectable in any treatment. Therefore, based on these results, accumulation of Cd in edible tissue (muscle) of farmed Japanese seabass is not a food safety issue. However, long-term feeding of diets with SVM may result in accumulation of Cd in the kidneys, liver and gills of fish. [source] Determination of physical behaviour of feed pellets in Mediterranean waterAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 2 2006Paolo Vassallo Abstract Settled uneaten feed causes the most intense impact under sea cages, and settling velocity of the feed pellets represents a key parameter for waste dispersion models. Even if some data about physical properties of feed pellets have been published in the framework of salmonid rearing, there is a complete lack of information related to the Mediterranean Sea, as regards typical values of temperature, salinity and feed composition for Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata L.) and Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.). In this study we try to fill this lack, determining dimensions, water adsorption properties, floating times and settling velocities of a typical growing sequence of pellets for the species mentioned above, under defined laboratory conditions reproducing Mediterranean Sea water. The settling velocity increases with pellet size from 0.087, for the smallest pellet (3 mm), to 0.144 m s,1, for the 5 mm pellet. The biggest extruded pellet (6 mm) falls slower (0.088 m s,1). The floating time before pellet's fall is found to be a critical parameter in determining settling velocity. The latter depends on pellet's size, water temperature and salinity. The examined pellets reach a 42% of weight increase after 10 min of immersion, while no appreciable dimension change is observed. Our results are in part different from previous ones and could play a role in evaluating and modelling Mediterranean aquaculture environmental impact. [source] Capture and handling stress affects the endocrine and ovulatory response to exogenous hormone treatment in snapper, Pagrus auratus (Bloch & Schneider)AQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 11 2002J J Cleary Abstract Sexually mature female hatchery-reared snapper, Pagrus auratus (Bloch & Schneider) were captured from sea cages by handline and injected at first capture (control) or 24 h after capture, transport and subsequent confinement (delayed injection) with either saline, luteinizing hormone releasing hormone analogue, human chorionic gonadotropin, or 17,-hydroxyprogesterone. Blood was sampled before hormone treatment and again after 168 h, and fish were checked daily for ovulation. Plasma levels of 17,-estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), 17,, 20, dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17, 20,P) and cortisol were determined by radioimmunoassay. The ovulatory response was assessed from the proportion of fish ovulating, ovulation volume, egg quality and fertility. A delay in injection resulted in significantly lower plasma E2 and T levels in response to hormone treatment, smaller ovulation volumes, and poorer egg quality than in control fish. The results are consistent with the generally inhibitory effects of stress on reproduction in fish, and confirm the requirement to treat fish with hormones designed to induce ovulation, as soon as possible after capture and disturbance. [source] | ||||||||||