2 » » 1 INDEX Aquaculture Magazine Volume 45 Number 5 October - November 2019 4 EDITOR´S COMMENTS on the cover INDUSTRY NEWS 6 University of

NEWS FROM THE AADAP Wisconsin’s 14 News from the Aquatic Animal Drug Approval Partnership. One-of-a-Kind Aquaculture Research

ARTICLE and Demonstration 16 Shrimp Multipath; providing a pathogen safeguard to Kenya’s emerging integrated mangrove conservation and aquaculture enterprises. Facility 20 ARTICLE 26 Potential of Genome Editing to Improve Aquaculture Breeding and Production.

Volume 45 Number 5 October - November 2019

Editor and Publisher ARTICLE Salvador Meza [email protected] 36 Enhancing aquaponics management with IoT-based Predictive Analytics for efficient information utilization. Editor in Chief Greg Lutz [email protected]

Editorial Assistant Lucía Araiza [email protected] AFRICA REPORT 46 Recent News and Events Editorial Design Francisco Cibrián

Designer Perla Neri [email protected]

Marketing & Sales Manager LATIN AMERICA REPORT Christian Criollos [email protected] 50 Recent News and Events.

Business Operations Manager Adriana Zayas [email protected]

Subscriptions: [email protected] Design Publications International Inc. 203 S. St. Mary’s St. Ste. 160 URNER BARRY San Antonio, TX 78205, USA Office: +210 5043642 76 TILAPIA, PANGASIUS AND CHANNEL CATFISH. Office in Mexico: (+52) (33) 8000 0578 - Ext: 8578 Aquaculture Magazine (ISSN 0199-1388) is published bimontly, by Design SHRIMP. Publications International Inc. All rights reserved. www.aquaculturemag.com

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2 » COLUMNS

AQUACULTURE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL 52 News from the Aquaculture Stewardship Council.

OUT AND ABOUT 55 Fishing is Growing Old. By: Salvador Meza *

OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE 56 Offshore macroalgae culture as a balm for the oceans and the planet. By Neil Anthony Sims

THE FISHMONGER 62 Seafood Consumer Tendency and the Role of Aquaculture. By: The Fishmonger

SALMONIDS 66 The significance of sufficient water velocity in salmon cages. By Asbjørn Bergheim

TECHNICAL GURU 68 Lighting in aquaculture facilities. By Amy Stone

THE LONG VIEW 72 Shoot the Rhino. By Aaron A. McNevin*

» 3 Aquaculture Intelligence… the New A.I.

By C. Greg Lutz* Louisiana State University Agricultural Center

I often find myself bouncing around the internet when I’m supposed to be ‘working.’ But, in a way, I really am working because I stumble on many aspects of modern life that relate to aquaculture in one way or another.

he pace of technological in- novation seems to accelerate almost daily, and ‘technology’ (one of those catch-all terms, Tkind of like ‘scientists’) is advancing in too many areas to keep track of. Many times, these advances seem far removed from day-to-day life on a fish farm. To date, technology hasn’t really impacted things like harvesting, loading out haul- ing trucks or workboats, or collecting, recording and disposing of mortalities. Nor has it eliminated the need to check the oil and radiator fluid in tractors or generators. Nonetheless, technology is increasingly offering us new ways to approach aquaculture production. In the late 1980’s, my friend Walter Landry told me that we would never be able to raise fish profitably with automation, because ‘someone needs to be with them and observe them Three decades back, when some- aerator if DO values dropped below day in and day out.’ Walter served as one brought up the topic of Artifi- some pre-set level of concern. This President of the Striped Bass Grow- cial Intelligence (AI) in aquaculture, type of ‘innovation’ fit in well with ers Association and the Louisiana more often than not they were refer- the traditional production process Aquaculture Association, and also ring to simple monitoring and con- and reduced the potential for human served on the Board of the Nation- trol apparatuses, like an oxygen sen- error (um… err… or, at times, sim- al Aquaculture Association, so as a sor that sent a signal to a computer, ply substituted that risk with the po- young Extension Specialist I took his that in turn would open an oxygen tential for technological/mechanical opinion more or less as gospel. bottle solenoid valve or turn on an error).

4 » and spit out enlightened conclusions were beginning to be available. This level of interpretation was perhaps not yet a practical tool, but all that would soon change… with the dawn of the Internet of Things (cue dra- matic music…). Yes, IoT. The Internet of Things. I still don’t really grasp it but I guess my understanding of IoT involves someone asking Alexa to turn on the coffee maker…I guess. I ignored the whole concept (as much by ignorance as by choice) for as long as I could, but in addition to changing so many aspects of our modern life – IoT has opened up a whole new frontier of Systems were soon developed but this was not much of an im- production (and business strategy) that deployed any number of sen- provement (especially if you had to management for all sorts of manufac- sors that could be connected (by get up at 3 am and drive for an hour turing, including aquaculture. Look wires and state-of-the-art interfaces) to try to respond to an emergency up the term “Industry 4.0” sometime. to a computer, allowing a manager equipment failure). Tedious data en- The capacity for modern sen- to monitor water quality and equip- try, manipulation and interpretation sors and monitors to communicate ment performance from multiple was still required to turn the num- through Wi-Fi and internet channels systems in real time. With their bun- bers generated by these monitoring has reshaped the potential architec- dles of wires reminiscent of sticky systems into management tools for ture for ‘command and control’ in spaghetti, these packages were im- evaluation, troubleshooting and plan- aquaculture operations. And more pressive to look at and fun to show ning purposes. importantly, the computational re- off to visitors (especially when pur- But all the while, AI was evolving sources required for interpretation, chased with someone else’s money), as it were. If you could pull together decision making and long-term plan- but they were still just data… just and package the mountains of data ning can now be fed a continual diet numbers and on/off signals. related to feeding rates, mortality pat- of all types of data, allowing subtle The emergence of the internet terns, water quality, growth rates, and relationships between management allowed personnel to view real-time equipment performance, programs factors and production strategy facility data from far away locations, that could gobble up the numbers trade-offs to be clearly understood. There are two interesting pieces on these topics in this issue. As advances in AI continue, many aquaculture production systems re- ally will be able to operate with mini- mal human supervision. I’m not sure whether Walter would be sold on the idea that a computer could under- stand our fish better than we can, but we’ll see how it all works out.

Dr. C. Greg Lutz has a B.A. in Biology and Spanish by the Earlham College at Richmond, Indiana, a M.S. in Fisheries and a Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science by the Loui- siana State University. His interests include recirculating system technology and population dynamics, quantitative genetics and multivariate analyses and the use of web based technology for result-demonstration methods. Professor and Specialist with the LSU AgCenter.

» 5 INDUSTRYRESEARCH NEWS REPORT F3 Challenge Launches Carnivore Competition The Future of Fish Feed (F3) an- nounced on September 3 that its third contest— “F3 Challenge – Carnivore Edition” — is now open to compa- nies that produce and sell “fish-free” feed for farm-raised carnivorous spe- cies. Contest registration is open until April 30, 2020. A US$35,000 prize will be awarded in each of three categories — salmonid, shrimp, and other car- nivorous species—to the contestant that produces and sells the most feed made without using wild-caught fish or any marine-animal ingredient. “We were told after our first con- test that the real challenge was fish- free feeds for carnivorous species,” Salmon aquaculture, one of the not contain any ingredients consisting said Kevin Fitzsimmons, F3 Challenge fastest growing food production sys- of or derived from marine animals, in- chair and Professor at the University tems in the world, supplies roughly 70 cluding but not limited to, fish, squid, of Arizona. “Fortunately, there’s a lot percent, or 2.5 million metric tons, of shrimp, or krill. of great research happening on alter- all salmon produced. Salmon farms Forage fish are crucial sources of native feed ingredients for carnivores, use over 20 percent of the fishmeal food for other commercial fisheries so we are excited to see what emerg- and 60 percent of the fish oil con- like cod, salmon, tuna, and marine es from our third contest.” Chinese sumed by the aquaculture sector. To- mammals like whales, dolphins and aquaculture expert Ling Cao, an Asso- day, over half of the global shrimp seals, as well as seabirds. Without ciate Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong supply is farmed. Global shrimp alternative oil sources, the world’s University and affiliated research sci- farming production, which reached oceans will not be able to keep up entist at Stanford University, joined nearly 4 million metric tons in 2018 with the demands from the growing Fitzsimmons and Michael Tlusty, As- according to the UN Food and Agri- world population, which could result sociate Professor at the University of cultural Organization, is also one of in major supply chain disruptions for Massachusetts Boston, as a judge for the dominant consumers of the global the aquaculture industry and in an en- this competition. fishmeal supply. vironmental crisis for wild fisheries. Each year, an estimated 16 million This competition, which is de- The winner of the second F3 chal- metric tons of wild fish are caught ex- signed to accelerate the development lenge, The F3 Fish Oil Challenge will clusively for use as fishmeal and fish oil and adoption of alternative “fish- be announced on Wednesday, Oct. in global food production. Fish farm- free” feeds for aquaculture, will accept 23 during a special ceremony at the ing or aquaculture, now provides well aquafeed entries formulated in three Global Aquaculture Alliance’s GOAL over half of the world’s seafood and is categories: salmonid, shrimp, or other conference in Chennai, India. the dominant consumer of these oil- carnivorous species. Feeds submitted For official contest rules and rich fish, like sardines, anchovies and for the other carnivorous species cate- to register, visit: https://carnivore. menhaden called “forage fish.” Today, gory must be approved by the contest f3challenge.org/. fish farm owners are looking for new judges. Feeds for all categories must and innovative ways to feed all those billions of fish in a way that doesn’t rely on the limited wild fish supply from the ocean.

6 » » 7 INDUSTRYRESEARCH NEWS REPORT National Aquaculture Strategy helps South Australian mussels with new markets in South East Asia and China

With the development of a new production facility and key partner- ships, South Australia-based Eyre Peninsula Seafoods is embarking on a ground-breaking initiative to signif- icantly increase the export of South Australian mussels throughout South East Asia and China. Eyre Peninsula Seafoods (EPS) was created in 2016 and is represented by three premium mussel brands - Kinkawooka Shell- fish, Boston Bay Mussels and Spen- cer Gulf Mussels. Over the last three years the company has experienced significant growth, and the push into SEA and China as part of the government’s National Aquaculture Strategy (NAS) will drive further success. “The growth of the EPS busi- ness could see a further 20 jobs in regional South Australia, along with an increase in the demand for lo- cal resources, including packaging, freight, and fuel,” said Andrew Pug- lisi, Executive Director, Eyre Penin- sula Seafoods. “As the South Austra- through eight priority areas - Regula- and long history in trading seafood. lian Mussel brand develops this will tory framework; Research, develop- “China, and in fact that whole re- also create a growing awareness for ment and extension; Market access; gion, is not only important in regards the region and will have an influence Biosecurity; Public perception; En- to volume of mussels they consume on assisting to grow the interna- vironmental performance; Invest- naturally in their food culture, but tional recognition for the region as ment; and Training and education. it’s a great platform into other mar- a seafood capital. The aspiration, of A crucial partner supporting the kets too off the back of any success course, is to create the awareness and push into China is Thomas Cappo you might experience,” said Cappo. recognition of South Australia as a Seafoods. Based on the huge success “But anything into China is difficult premium mussel appellation, which of their animal protein division, pri- because you’re competing globally, can be used across all markets.” marily premium beef products turn- but it’s about getting on the ground The new multi-million-dollar ing more than $2.6 billion in rev- and understanding the product, the production facility in Port Lincoln enue, Thomas Cappo is a leader in requirements and matching with the will allow the company to increase Australian food distribution into the correct customer channels and con- mussel production from 2000T per valuable market hungry for premium stantly massaging and educating so annum to 3500T, providing the vol- Australian foods. Partnering with people understand the product and ume required to push into the South Thomas Cappo allows Eyre Penin- its value.” East Asian region, and potentially sula Seafoods to use the networks “On top of that, it creates an op- the US and Europe too. The NAS and relationships built up over many portunity to move into Europe and sets out to achieve the goal to dou- years, especially in China, where re- the US who have their own blue ble the current value of Australia’s lationship marketing is the primary mussel industries that are not in sea- aquaculture industry to $2 billion a demand for market entry. Damian son while the South Australian Mus- year by 2027. The Strategy details Cappo, principal of Thomas Cappo sel is. This could allow year-round the actions government and indus- Seafoods is a third- generation fish- supply of blue mussels to those mar- try need to take to meet this target monger from Adelaide, with a deep kets,” he says.

8 » » 9 INDUSTRYRESEARCH NEWS REPORT Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Awards Grants to 5 Aquaculture Pilot Projects The Atlantic States Marine Fish- eries Commission (Commission) has selected five aquaculture pilot projects to receive funding. Through these pilot projects, emphasis is being placed on promising but less com- mercially developed technologies for finfish and shellfish, and other industry needs like increased permit- ting efficiency. As part of its efforts to foster responsible aquaculture and seafood security in the US, NOAA Fisheries provided $575,000 in fund- ing to the Commission to support these projects. Following a rigorous review, which included an evalua- tion of the technical aspects of the proposals as well as their compliance with environmental laws, the follow- ing five projects were selected. The production to aquaculture workforce and are scheduled for completion in projects, ranging from black sea bass development, will begin in August 2020.

Salmon Group removes Brazilian soy from feed After recently adopting an innova- tive new feed formula, Salmon Group, a Norwegian cooperative of small and medium sized salmon producers, an- nounced that it would stop using Bra- zilian soy products in its fish feed last month. The Cooperative’s Purchas- ing and Feed Manager stated that the “change we are making to the feed rec- ipe has significant impact. In fact, the result of this change is twice as large as the impact of all the other measures put together.” “If you have the knowledge that something can be improved, you should go ahead and do it” said Salm- on Group’s CEO Anne-Kristin Øen. sult in a 20% reduction in carbon foot- we launched our feasibility study: ‘Sus- “Removing Brazilian soy is a direct print. The replacement of Brazilian soy tainable Farming of Salmon and Trout consequence of the difference in cli- ingredients is expected to provide an – What is that?’ In that report we point mate footprint. It costs us a few mil- additional 17% reduction, and Salmon to fish feed as an important aspect. lions, but the climate effect is just enor- Group believes that additional adjust- Now we take it one step further and mous.” ments to management and production get on with doing something about it.” Salmon Group had already recently practices should result in an overall re- According to the Cooperative’s sta- begun using an alternative feed pro- duction of 50%. tistics, Salmon Group’s combined an- duced by Biomar Group. Key factors Øen was quoted at that time in a nual harvest of roughly 135,000 tons in the feed’s production process, such press release. “Salmon Group works of salmon and 20,000 tons of trout as the use of microalgae oils and more systematically with issues related to generates a total turnover of $980 mil- by-catch based fishmeal, are said to re- sustainability and fish welfare. Last year lion USD.

10 » AI in aquaculture: shaping the future with Observe Technologies Generally the most important task for aquaculture farmers is to maximize feed output while mini- mizing wasted feed. When feed is wasted, farm profitability, FCR, and local environment are all negatively impacted. Similarly, underfeeding slows farm growth. Currently, aquaculture addresses this balance by relying heavily on hu- man intuition and interpretations of existing data streams found on sites. Farmers spend their entire day moni- toring their stock on video screens, looking for changes in fish behav- iour to try and determine the fish’s satiety. They then manually adjust the amount of feed released into the cage based on what they see. This when a site produces good or bad Past innovations have focused requires constant concentration, as FCR scores. on hardware and data collection; farmers combine their interpreta- Observe Technologies aims to however the problem is typically tion of visual data with a plethora of convert aquaculture processes from not a lack of data, but the rigour environmental data streams gauging an art to a science by using Artifi- and overwhelming pressure on oxygen levels and current rates, feed cial Intelligence and data process- farmers to consistently interpret intensities, historic fish growth and ing to identify measurable patterns that data and apply correlations many more factors. in feeding activities and strategies with fish activity, feeding patterns, At the moment, there is no way to present to farmers. The system is sensory data, food particles and of monitoring and evaluating feed- built to be adaptable and empower- other historical information in real ing strategies objectively. Feeding ing for farmers by seamlessly tap- time. The use of AI in aquaculture strategies are an ‘art’: a reflection of ping into the existing sensors, feed farms offers constant analytical the farmers’ spontaneous decision systems and cameras on site. Data is and objective evidence of how fish on how much food to put in a cage collected through a multitude of AI growth responds to farmer input based on what they saw over the day. algorithms to optimize farm perfor- under different conditions, allowing There are no unbiased measures of mance; from the cost efficient use of meaningful data exploration of dif- feed strategies to directly explain feed to maintaining fish welfare. ferent feeding strategies.

Aquaculture Group Applauds WDFW for Fish Farm Proposal The Northwest Aquaculture Al- The WDFW proposal, would give extra mile’ to ensure fairness in liance (NWAA), the leading trade as- Cooke a five-year permit to culture all- making this important decision,” sociation representing aquaculture female triploid (non-fertile) rainbow said NWAA Executive Director, producers and support businesses in trout—and much-needed certainty to Jeanne McKnight. “We are grate- Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, continue operating in the state. ful that science has won the day and British Columbia, applauded the Cooke plans to partner with the over politics, and we are delighted Washington Department of Fish and Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe to raise that Cooke will be able to continue Wildlife (WDFW) proposal to issue a native species in Port Angeles Harbor, producing sustainable seafood in five-year Marine Aquaculture Permit once the aquatic farm lease in Port Washington State, particularly in to Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC to Angeles is reinstated, according to a areas where family-wage jobs grow rainbow trout (steelhead) in its press release issued recently. Source: Northwest Aquaculture existing commercial marine net pens “We commend the state, par- Alliance in Puget Sound. ticularly WDFW, for ‘going the

» 11 INDUSTRYRESEARCH NEWS REPORT Women in Seafood announces Video Competition winners

The International Association for Third prize: Truchas arapa, or The a bordo (Spain, Galicia) “Highlights the Women in the Seafood Industry (WSI), Aquaculture women of Lake Arapa key issue of prejudice on land not on a not-for-profit organization created by (Peru). “A promising aquaculture initia- board. Excellent lesson to those who do seafood and gender issues specialists, tive where Reyna Callata Chaco a very not believe a woman can do it!” https:// highlights gender imbalance in the in- inspirational role model provides good www.youtube.com/watch?time_ dustry, sheds light on women’s real con- leadership to other women.” https:// continue=1&v=5aDn77twYNU tribution in the industry, and promotes www.youtube.com/watch?time_ “The standard of all the films greater gender diversity and inclusive- continue=1&v=z9R6Isziwa0 was high, and they demonstrated the ness. For its third edition the WSI video WSI Prize of Excellence 2019 Lead- many ways in which women are active competition 2019 has hit a record with ership des femmes transformatrices au throughout the seafood industry. There 32 entries from 14 countries, an 88% in- Sénégal (Senegal): “Excellent video - were happy tales and sad tales, tales of crease compared to 2018. The interna- great music and visuals, where women bravery and perseverance, and tales of tional jury including highly recognized were at the front and innovations cur- the struggle against circumstance. A professionals has awarded prizes to the rent and important.” https://www.you- couple of films even brought a tear to three best video competition 2019. tube.com/watch?v=ilL3413SiXg my eye. All the women should be con- First prize: Women of the Arousa WSI Prize of Excellence 2019 gratulated on their outstanding efforts; Sea, (Galicia). “The best! Touching, Women with tradition (Peru) “A one they left me in awe.” Nicki Holmyard, Strong, positive, with context and family business inspirational for other journalist, UK. All videos are available showing diverse angles of women families in the community”. https:// here: http://womeninseafood.com/ at sea” commented one jury mem- www.youtube.com/watch?time_ videos-2019/ ber. https://www.youtube.com/ continue=2&v=reluoGzuC_o “We are happy to announce that the watch?time_continue=1&v=_ZsfK- Finally a Special WSI mention 2020 edition is open and we look for- pctXlI is awarded to: Special WSI mention ward to receiving new wonderful testi- Second prize: Oyster farming in to Mujeres del mar, (Mexico) “Very monies from all over the world, making Wadatar (India). “Very interesting and good example of the work of a com- visible the two often invisible yet para- positive initiative, where women over- munity in which women share experi- mount contribution of women to the came prior opposition and go in the ences” https://www.youtube.com/ seafood industry” said Marie Christine water.” https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=IjvnV5jRGwM Monfort, WSI President. Email: wom- watch?v=EL4uyn_SEsI And Special WSI mention to Mujeres [email protected]

12 » Trade relations between Turkey and China continue to be developed With a new Chinese aquatic prod- ing the export of fishery products dollars. “So the door was opened to ucts export protocol in place, Turkey’s from Turkey to China such as rain- a potential $ 250 million market for Ambassador to Beijing Abdulkadir bow trout, river trout, tuna and blue- Turkish producers” he added. Onen Emin Onen said that a potential $ fin tuna. According to officials, the cited the initiative of cherry and pis- 250 million market has been opened protocol is valid for 5 years from the tachio exports from Turkey to China for Turkish aquaculture producers. date of signing. earlier this year, followed by poultry China’s General Administration Onen said in a statement on the exports, fishery products and milk of Customs of the Ministry of Ag- subject that in the past year Turkey’s and said the government continues riculture and Forestry was in Ankara exports of aquaculture products were its efforts to begin exports of citrus in early September. During the visit, a worth 80 million dollars, while Chi- products. protocol was signed aimed at boost- na’s imports were some 250 million

Ontario Provides Direction to Support a Strong and Sustainable Aquaculture Industry Ontario is taking action to protect strengthening the provincial economy water quality in Ontario’s lakes while for years to come.” supporting an environmentally sus- “Ontario’s fish farmers put more tainable and prosperous fish farming than 100 million meals of delicious and sector, as part of its Made-in-Ontario healthy trout on Ontario dinner tables Environment Plan commitment. every year. Aquaculture brings jobs and Ontario released its final policy pa- prosperity to Ontario’s rural, northern, per on lake-based cage fish farming and Indigenous communities,” said RJ that helps provide business certainty Taylor, Co-owner, Cedar Crest Trout and enables long-term investment in Farms. “Our farms are certified and the sector by finalizing the provincial internationally recognized for their en- water and sediment quality objectives vironmental stewardship and best man- for how fish farms should be situated, agement practices. We are delighted to sized and managed. see the Ontario government embrace Jeff Yurek, Minister of the Envi- Ontario seafood farmers and help us ronment, Conservation and Parks, and create jobs, fuel our economy and feed Mike Harris, Parliamentary Assistant Ontarians.” to the Minister of Natural Resources “Healthy locally grown fish are im- and Forestry, met with RJ Taylor, Co- portant to both Ontario families and owner of Cedar Crest Trout Farms, in to our economy,” said John Yakabuski, Hanover on August 29 to talk about Minister of Natural Resources and the province’s fish farming policy and Forestry. “This policy supports Ontar- Bill Walker. “Protecting and restoring the industry’s contribution to Ontar- io’s abundant wild fish populations and water quality in our lakes is part of our io’s economy. a healthy cage aquaculture industry.” Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan “Ontario’s aquaculture sector “Businesses like Cedar Crest Trout to ensure we balance a healthy envi- brings jobs and prosperity to rural, Farm play an important role in provid- ronment and a healthy economy and northern and Indigenous communi- ing a quality food product for Ontar- that the province’s pristine beauty and ties across Ontario,” said Minister ians and new economic opportunities strong communities can be enjoyed Yurek. “Setting this direction will pro- for our region and province, and so now and in the future.” vide greater clarity and certainty for I’m pleased to see our government There are currently six provincially investment. It’s an important step in supporting our local business and the licensed commercial cage fish farm op- reducing barriers to industry growth aquaculture industry. I’m excited about erations in Ontario and they are located and ensuring the industry continues the potential to significantly expand in Lake Huron. In 2018, the market to play an important role in providing this industry, jobs and the economy,” value for rainbow trout in Ontario was our food, protecting our waters and said Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP $29 million.

» 13 NEWS FROM THE AADAP News from the Aquatic Animal Drug Approval Partnership

Syndel announces Parasite-S (formalin) label extension A Branch of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Fish and Aquatic In April 2019, Syndel announced an indication addition for Parasite-S Conservation Program. (formalin). The new indication allows use of Parasite-S to control mortal- ity in freshwater-reared finfish due to saprolegniasis associated with fungi in the family Saprolegniaceae when administered at a dose of 150 ppm for 60 minutes per day on alternate days for three treatments in tanks and raceways. For more information on dosing, limitations, and treatment calculations of other Parasite-S (for- malin) indications, refer to AADAP’s Quick Desk Reference Guide to Ap- proved Drugs for Use in Aquacul- ture.

AADAP needs your help!: Check out the AADAP website for a list of AADAP’s current research priorities/needs for efficacy stud- ies (https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ aadap). AADAP is on the lookout for facilities with the following condi- tions/species combinations in which to conduct efficacy studies: Aeromonas hydrophila in a coolwater species, as well as a warmwater spe- cies other than catfish (Oxytetracy- cline dihydrate-Terramycin® 200 for Fish) Edwardsiella spp. in catfish (Oxytet- racycline dihydrate-Terramycin® 200 for Fish) Yersinia ruckeri in a salmonid spe- cies (Romet) Columnaris in a coldwater species If you’re aware of any facilities have them contact Guppy Blair at: (Chloramine-T) that may be able to help us, please [email protected]

14 » Approved Aquaculture Drug Fact of the Month: Did you know Tricaine Methane- sulfonate is approved for use in fish (of the families Ictaluridae, Salmoni- dae, Esocidae, and Percidae), aquatic amphibians, and other aquatic poi- kilotherms for temporary immobi- lization? For more information on dosing, limitations, and treatment calculations, refer to AADAP’s Quick Desk Reference Guide to Approved Drugs for Use in Aquaculture.

Fish Bytes video added to the AADAP website: Check out the Fish Bytes video that was recently added to the AADAP website. The 1-minute video show- cases the overall goal of the Aquatic Animal Drug Approval Partnership Program.

Special Session at Aquaculture America 2020: AADAP is planning to co-host a spe- cial session with the AFWA Drug Approval Working Group (DAWG) at Aquaculture America 2020, to be held in Honolulu, HI from February 9th-12th, 2020. The tentative session title is “Aquaculture Drug Updates”. If you’re interested in being a part of this session, please contact Julie Schroeter for more information by October 25th, 2019.

» 15 ARTICLE Shrimp Multipath; providing a pathogen safeguard to Kenya’s emerging integrated mangrove conservation and aquaculture enterprises

In March 2019, Kenya produced its first ever crop of farmed shrimp from hatchery reared animals grown in community-based, integrated By: Iain Olivier, Melony Sellars and Nigel mangrove conservation and aquaculture systems (IMAS). Preston *

his success was the result of a partnership includ- ing Mtoni Ltd, Kenya’s only commercial shrimp Thatchery, several Kenyan community- based IMAS enterprises, the Austra- lian Commonwealth and Scientific Industry and Research Organisation (CSIRO), Kenya Marine and Fisher- ies Research Institute (KMFRI) and the Kenyan Department of Fisher- ies, with support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The first harvest of a mixed crop of Penaeus monodon and Fenneropenaeus indicus provided a significant source of income to the Mtepeni Commu- nity Mangrove Forest Conservation Group. This included the resources required to support community ac- tivities in mangrove conservation and restoration. The success of this project has provided the incentive for Hatchery seedstock. Mtoni Ltd to progressively increase the number of Kenyan coastal com- conservation alone does not provide grove conservation with sustainable munities with access to the knowl- adequate levels of resources to offset shrimp aquaculture. The communities edge and technology to enable them the loss of community income from are acutely aware that poorly managed to develop their own IMAS. traditional fishing activities that have aquaculture enterprises can have neg- These coastal communities have been so severely impacted by over- ative impacts on mangroves and other all been committed to mangrove con- fishing in these coastal areas. Faced marine ecosystems. Accordingly, they servation activities for the past de- with this challenge, these communi- are committed to the application of cade or more. However, mangrove ties are now seeking to integrate man- IMAS knowledge and technology.

16 » » 17 ARTICLE

Pond-planted mangrove. Integrated mangrove shrimp ponds – Ihaleni Kakuluni Broodstock transport. Conservation Group, Kilifi County, Kenya.

All aspects of these systems are seedstock from local estuaries, which vice Laboratories. This has enabled demonstrably sustainable and audit- is unsafe and time consuming and Mtoni Ltd to screen broodstock, able, enabling significant improve- places additional pressure on wild post larvae and pond stocks for 13 ments to community livelihoods fisheries. commercially impactful pathogens whilst also conserving and restor- A new partnership between Mtoni in a single assay, within 48 hours ing mangrove forests and reducing Ltd and Genics is providing transfor- of samples arriving at the testing pressure on wild fish stocks. A key mational capacity to detect and man- laboratories in Australia. Mtoni Ltd aspect of reducing pressure on wild age shrimp pathogens by providing hatchery manager Sheban Mdzomba fish stocks is to provide high-health, critical access to the Shrimp MultiPa- Hinzano put in long hours camp- hatchery reared shrimp seedstock to th™ Platform. This platform is now ing out in the fishing grounds in the these communities. This eliminates commercially available through Gen- Tana Delta and whizzing about on the need for women and youths to ics with testing performed in NATA trawlers in order to collect shrimp spend many hours capturing wild accredited ISO17025 Australian Ser- broodstock samples.

Monitoring prawn growth.

18 » Stocking community ponds.

Mtepeni community ponds.

Mtepeni community ponds.

Results have confirmed that Kenya’s natural stocks of P. monodon and F. indicus will provide safe and reli- able founder stocks for local domestication and selective breeding programs. Ongoing access to Shrimp MultiPa- th™ will be critical in optimising pathogen detection and management in the domesticated stocks, to the benefit of Kenya’s IMAS enterprises. Achieving this goal will con- tribute to the growing body of evidence that internation- ally accredited, responsible aquaculture can have signifi- cant economic and social benefits whilst also conserving and restoring the health of adjacent ecosystems.

Iain Olivier, CEO Mtoni Ltd, Melony Sellars, Director Genics Pty Ltd and Nigel Preston, Honorary Professor, University of Queensland.

» 19 R&D FACILITY University of Wisconsin’s One-of-a-Kind Aquaculture Research and Demonstration Facility

The UW-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility (UWSP NADF) is a state-of-the-art, dynamic facility, showcasing new advances in aquaculture system technology such as sustainable land based recirculating aquaculture, while also providing traditional aquaculture systems such as flow through raceways and

By: Emma Wiermaa and Greg Fischer * outdoor ponds for industry-based research projects.

variety of aquaculture production systems and water sources provide the facility with the ca- pabilityA of raising various cool and cold-water fish species important to the industry, such as rainbow trout, brook trout, Atlantic salmon, arctic char, lake trout, lake herring, walleye, saugeye, lake sturgeon, yellow perch, baitfish and other species at various life stages. The UWSP NADF is recognized as an international leader and pro- moter in recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technology. Demon- stration projects at the facility show how RAS technology can be more environmentally responsible and sus- tainable for the future of aquaculture. The facility is located on The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippe- wa Indians’ reservation and was built as a partnership with the Tribal Natu- ral Resources Department and with the Tribal Fish Hatchery Program.

20 » The UWSP NADF is recognized as an international leader and promoter in recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technology. Demonstration projects at the facility show how RAS technology can be more environmentally responsible and sustainable for the future of aquaculture.

History also provides strong collaboration entities, state and federal hatcheries, After 10 years of planning and de- with the Red Cliff Tribe provid- other universities, K-12 Wisconsin velopment, the facility became op- ing workshops and training for fu- schools, industry related compa- erational in 2002. The facility was ture industry workforce and project nies and other organizations. With a originally constructed by the UW partnerships with the Red Cliff Fish professionally trained staff of dedi- System and operated by the Uni- Hatchery. cated aquaculturists and biologists versity of Wisconsin-Superior. In The overall mission of the facil- the facility is able to maintain a high 2006, ownership was transferred ity throughout the years has been to level of expertise for conducting a to the University of Wisconsin- advance sustainable aquaculture for myriad of projects with many spe- Stevens Point. The facility location a northern climate, focusing on spe- cies of both cool and coldwater fish was carefully chosen due to impor- cies, systems and technologies that at various life stages. tant geological information that was relate to Wisconsin and the Mid- gathered to determine the best site west. The facility focus is to perform Scope for the facility. Determining factors industry applied research projects As a result of the ongoing research included topography, aquifer capac- while demonstrating effective aqua- and demonstration projects at ity, water quality, and effluent man- culture systems, management prac- UWSP NADF, the facility is contin- agement. While the land is leased tices, and technologies. The facility ually advancing to evaluate and assist by the tribe to UWSP, the facility partners with private industry, tribal in development of state-of-the-art technologies and new aquaculture species to improve efficiency and sustainability for aquaculture in the Midwest. Outcomes from various research projects and partnerships drive the best management practic- es and technological advancements currently demonstrated at the facil- ity today. The facility has also filled the unique niche of assisting up and coming aquaculturists and business- es to begin to or better understand what is needed to be successful in rearing a variety of fish species for either food fish and/or conservation purposes. The UWSP NADF is one-of- a-kind in the Midwest that joins a group of only a handful of similar ATS Tank Overview. facilities in North America. For the

» 21 R&D FACILITY past 18 years, the facility has con- tinuously been involved in signifi- cant projects which have not only been ground-breaking but have also impacted aquaculture at a local and global scale. Due to strong partnerships, col- laborations and trusted applied re- search, the UWSP NADF has been awarded over $5 million in grants to support project funding. The facility has raised over 15 species of cool and cold-water fish in various sys- tems at all life stages. This work has positively impacted private, tribal, federal and state hatcheries and or- ganizations to advance their produc- tion and efficiency. Looking into the future, the facility strives to main- Highschool aquaculture. tain high quality applied research, biological results, workforce training of Washington state and with The Partnering with World’s Largest and effective outreach and education Conservation Fund’s Freshwater In- Aquaponics Facility efforts. A few specific projects are stitute in West Virginia to develop Among various partnerships, the highlighted below. a broodstock of Cascade strain At- UWSP NADF is also strongly asso- lantic salmon to supply eggs to the ciated with the world’s largest aqua- Developing Atlantic Salmon growing commercial food fish in- ponics facility, Superior Fresh, LLC. Broodstock for US Commercial dustry utilizing RAS technology. For of Hixton WI. Superior Fresh is cur- Supplies of Atlantic salmon Eggs over five years, the UWSP NADF rently raising Atlantic salmon, steel- One example of industry impacts worked with Riverence to collect head and various aquaponic greens. involves the facility’s work with the and ship eggs to Washington for the The UWSP NADF partnered with Cascade strain of Atlantic salmon. development of a new broodstock. Superior Fresh to advance the com- In 2014, the facility was provided Riverence is now the first US com- pany’s sustainable production of At- with some of the few remaining mercial supplier of Atlantic salmon lantic salmon reared in recirculating Cascade strain Atlantic salmon left eggs to support the salmon food fish aquaculture systems. UWSP NADF in the world. The UWSP NADF industry and the only supplier, glob- provides technical assistance, dem- collaborated with Riverence, LLC. ally, of Cascade strain eggs. onstration and cold-water species

The facility location was carefully chosen due to important geological information that was gathered to determine the best site for the facility. Determining factors included topography, aquifer capacity, water quality, and effluent management.

22 » The overall mission of the facility throughout the years has been to advance sustainable aquaculture for a northern climate, focusing on species, systems and technologies that relate to Wisconsin and the Midwest.

» 23 R&D FACILITY

expertise to advance the company’s facility and operations. UWSP is also partnering to provide interns, tech- nicians and other support staff. Re- cently, UWSP NADF received fed- eral funding through the NOAA Sea Grant college program for research to overcome barriers to sustainable, land based Atlantic salmon produc- tion with its partners WI Sea Grant, Superior Fresh, Riverence, and The Conservation Fund’s Freshwater In- stitute. This project was selected to receive part of an $11 million aqua- culture initiative, the only project in the Great Lakes region that was funded from this initiative. Larval room tanks at UWSP NADF. A Leading Research Facility for Intensively Reared Walleye for most walleye fillets are imported additional market for providing pel- Food Fish Production into the Midwest from Canada, this let-trained fingerlings to companies For nearly 10 years, the UWSP well-known species in the Midwest utilizing aquaponics or recirculating NADF has been raising both wall- has a strong existing food fish mar- aquaculture systems. UWSP NADF eye and hybrid walleye (saugeye) in ket. Intricate system designs, man- is the leading research facility ad- indoor, intensive systems on com- agement practices and prior research vancing the commercialization of mercial feed. Based on the research have enabled the facility to raise this raising walleye intensively for food and published work from Bob Sum- species to an average of >1.0 lb in fish production. merfelt and colleagues in the Wall- 12 months from egg to finished fish eye Culture Manual, the facility has utilizing intensive systems at com- A Leader in Aquaculture developed intensive systems to raise mercial density levels of 60-80kg/ and Aquaponics Education in this species on commercial feed from cubic meter. These indoor rearing Wisconsin and Beyond hatching, starting in larval systems techniques result in highly bio-se- UWSP is the first accredited univer- and on through grow-out in recircu- cure fish, limiting issues of disease sity in Wisconsin to offer an aquacul- lating aquaculture systems. Although or infections. This also provides an ture minor and the first in the Nation

UWSP is the first accredited university in Wisconsin to offer an aquaculture minor and the first in the Nation to offer a full semester aquaponics course and aquaponics certificate program.

24 » Broader research initiatives over the next decade include broodstock research and development, year-round spawning of walleye, feeds and nutrition, and economic analysis of various aquaculture or aquaponic systems and species.

Walleye final harvest WWRAS.

ly outreaches to thousands of people Outlook through interactive tours, classroom Future research goals and objectives visits and public presentations. will be driven by environmental and economic sustainability with direct Crosscurrent industry applicability. Current species UWSP NADF has a strong mission to and systems of high interest include support and promote aquaculture ed- Atlantic salmon, walleye and arctic ucation. One of the major opposing char raised in recirculating aquacul- forces to the facility and aquaculture ture systems or de-coupled aquapon- in general is negative public percep- ics systems for food fish markets. tion of aquaculture. To the general With continual technological ad- public, wild harvested fish continues vancements for indoor systems, there to be viewed as superior over aqua- will also be continued research and culture raised fish in terms of quality demonstration projects around these Walleye 1lb -1 year in RAS. and environmental sustainability. The developments. Broader research ini- facility works to educate those that are tiatives over the next decade include to offer a full semester aquaponics unaware of the benefits of sustain- broodstock research and develop- course and aquaponics certificate able aquaculture including food safety, ment, year-round spawning of wall- program. Each year the university preservation of wild populations, low eye, feeds and nutrition, and econom- supports various students to intern environmental impacts with land- ic analysis of various aquaculture or at UWSP NADF and other partner- based systems, and the regulations on aquaponic systems and species. ship facilities. These students meet U.S. aquaculture and aquaponics. workforce development needs for UWSP NADF is an open-door- the aquaculture industry. Availability policy facility, therefore the research of a skilled and experienced work- and results are publicly available. force is currently a major bottleneck Research done at UWSP NADF to the advancement of the industry. is evaluated by other highly reputable Emma Wiermaa is the Aquaculture Outreach & Education aquaculture facilities and organiza- Specialist at the NADF. Her duties include conducting Every research or demonstration tours for the facility, social networking and website build- project also consists of strong out- tions including tribal, state, federal ing, connecting with and providing technical assistance to schools, private fish farms and tribal, federal or state reach components through various and private groups. Research done organizations, assisting in research and data analysis, at the facility is directly tied to grant and writing reports and proposals. Greg Fischer is the avenues including workshops, train- NADF’s Assistant Director & Research Program Manager. ings, tours and presentations. The or private industry funding, in which His responsibilities currently include overseeing applied research and demonstration projects, facility staff, UWSP NADF mission also involves the results and outcomes are widely interns, volunteers, and all day-to-day activities involved shared and extended to the intended with the operation of the facility. public education, providing tours Email: [email protected] for all ages. Yearly, the facility direct- audiences.

» 25 ARTICLE

Potential of Genome Editing to Improve Aquaculture Breeding and Production

New breeding technologies such as genome editing using CRISPR/ Cas9 have the potential to expedite sustainable genetic improvement in aquaculture. Genome editing can rapidly introduce favorable changes to By: Remi L. Gratacap, Anna Wargelius, the genome, such as fixing alleles at existing trait loci, creatingde novo Rolf Brudvik Edvardsen and Ross D. alleles, or introducing alleles from other strains or species. Houston *

ish production via aquacul- decades, and is the fastest growing for aquaculture. Furthermore, aqua- ture is now approximately food production sector, predicted to culture production is considered ef- equal to capture fishery grow by 31% over the next 10 years. ficient in terms of feed conversion production for the first Fortunately, development potential and protein retention compared Ftime in history, will be the domi- is huge, with only ~1% of suitable with most terrestrial livestock, and nant source of seafood within a few marine sites currently being used seafood is the major source of long-

26 » » 27 ARTICLE chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, tion interval of the species, and the which are considered essential for need to target multiple traits in the human health. breeding goal. In addition, advanced However, relative to many crop breeding programs are typically and livestock production systems, closed systems, and are limited to Genomic selection has become most aquaculture is at a formative the standing genetic variation in the the state-of-the-art in several stage and is typically a high-risk ac- broodstock (typically sourced from a tivity. Sustainability can be hindered limited sample of wild populations), globally important aquaculture by an initial lack of control of the and new variation that arises from reproduction cycles of species, and de novo mutations. Genome-editing sectors, offering higher selection periodic collapses due to infectious technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas9, accuracies than selection based diseases. Upscaling and improving offer new solutions and opportuni- the reliability of production will ties in each of these areas. on phenotypic and pedigree require disruptive innovation in en- In contrast to transgenesis, which records alone. gineering, health, nutrition, and ge- involves the transfer of a gene from netic improvement technologies, the one organism to another, genome latter being the focus of this review. editing allows specific, targeted, Genomic selection has become and often minor changes to the ge- pair to create alterations to the se- the state-of-the-art in several glob- nome of the species of interest. The quence of the genomic DNA. The ally important aquaculture sectors, CRISPR/Cas9 system was discov- platform functions by combining an offering higher selection accuracies ered in bacteria, and was engineered endonuclease, the most commonly than selection based on phenotypic to enable easy, cheap, and efficient used enzyme derived from Streptococ- and pedigree records alone. How- targeted editing of the genome. cus pyogenes (SpCas9), and an adapter ever, genetic progress in selective The system creates a double-strand RNA in two parts, the complemen- breeding is limited by the heritabil- break (DSB) at a user-defined locus, tary RNA (crRNA) and the transac- ity of the target traits, the genera- enabling imperfect or targeted re- tivating crRNA (tracrRNA).

Genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9 was recently successfully applied in vivo and/or in cell lines of several major aquaculture species such as Nile Tilapia (see table 1).

28 » » 29 ARTICLE

Once annealed, the crRNA rec- Table 1 ognizes the target DNA sequence Successful applications of CRISPR/ Cas9 Genome Editing to Date in Aquaculture Species. and the tracrRNA binds the Cas9 protein to enable targeted endonu- clease activity. There are then two primary repair mechanisms, each of which can be used to introduce dif- ferent types of edit to the target ge- nome. First, the two adjacent strands of DNA can be repaired through a nonhomologous end-joining path- way (NHEJ), which is error prone and induces insertion or deletion of a few nucleotides. Second, if a re- pair template is present, homology- directed repair (HDR) can be used to insert desired mutations (from a single nucleotide swap to a whole chromosomal region insertion). Over the past few years, technical developments have made genome editing more efficient, and raised new possibilities for biological dis- CRISPR/Cas9 editing system now One major group of aquatic spe- covery. Single guide RNA molecules allow researchers to achieve gene ac- cies where successful CRISPR/Cas9 (sgRNA) are routinely used instead tivation or inhibition, without DSBs editing has not yet been reported is of the crRNA and tracrRNA duplex, by using a ‘dead’ Cas9 (dCas9) fused shrimp (Penaeus sp.), which may be to facilitate synthesis from a poly- to an activating (VP64, Rel A, and partly due to practical limitations, as merase III promoter (U6), which Rta proteins, known as the VPR sys- discussed briefly below. The stan- simplifies the process of CRISPR/ tem) or inhibiting complex (dCas9- dard methodology to induce in vivo Cas9 delivery. There have also been KRAB). Furthermore, swapping of mutations in aquaculture species numerous innovations that have en- base pairs (base-editing) from C to is injection of the CRISPR/Cas9 abled improved precision of edit- T with a cytidine deaminase and A complex into newly fertilized eggs ing, with lower off-target rates, and to G with an adenine deaminase us- as close as possible to the one-cell broadening of the range of target ing the same inactive Cas9 (dCas9) stage of development. Typically, sites accessible via alternative Cas9 has the potential to target numerous mRNA encoding the Cas9 protein proteins. Novel extensions of the single-nucleotide polymorphisms is injected together with the guide (SNPs). (g)RNA, leading to the high effi- ciency of editing demonstrated in Current Status of Genome various species to date (Table 1). Editing in Aquaculture Species Using the Cas9 protein in place of Advanced breeding programs are Genome editing using CRISPR/ mRNA is also effective. Successful Cas9 was recently successfully ap- germline transmission of edits has typically closed systems, and are plied in vivo and/or in cell lines of been reported in several studies to limited to the standing genetic several major aquaculture species of date (Table 1). Mosaicism is com- Salmonidae (Atlantic salmon, Salmo mon in edited animals, implying that variation in the broodstock salar and rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus the Cas9-induced cutting and edit- mykiss), Cyprinidae (Rohu, grass, and (typically sourced from a limited ing continues past the one-cell stage; common carp, Labeo rohita, Cteno- this is an issue to tackle with future sample of wild populations), pharyngodon idella, and Cyprinus carpio, research. respectively), Siluridae (channel and Target production traits for ge- and new variation that arises from southern catfish, Ictalurus punctatus), nome-editing studies in aquaculture de novo mutations. as well as Pacific oyster (Crassostrea species to date have included steril- gigas), Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloti- ity, growth, and disease resistance. cus), and gilthead sea bream (Sparus CRISPR/Cas9 has been used to in- aurata) (see Table 1 for details). duce sterility in Atlantic salmon and

30 » Catfish (Table 1). For growth-asso- Some practical reasons why ge- ciated traits, several groups have ed- nome editing has such potential for ited the myostatin gene (famous for research and applications in aqua- its role in ‘double-muscled’ cattle, culture species are the ease of ac- Some practical reasons why such as the Belgian Blue), resulting cess to many thousands of external- genome editing has such potential in larger fish. To date, this has been ly fertilized embryos, and the large performed in channel catfish and size of those embryos facilitating for research and applications in common carp (Table 1). Immunity microinjection by hand. The ability and disease resistance have already to use large nuclear families enables aquaculture species are the ease been investigated using genome ed- a degree of control of background of access to many thousands of iting in Rohu carp and Grass carp, genetic effects, with ample sample respectively, and it is expected that sizes achievable for downstream externally fertilized embryos, and this area of research will flourish as a comparisons of successfully edited the large size of those embryos route to improving and understand- individuals with their unedited full- ing disease resistance as a key target sibling counterparts. The ability to facilitating microinjection by hand. trait for aquaculture. Genome edit- perform extensive ‘phenotyping’ is ing can also be applied to develop often also feasible, for example us- models for studying host response ing well-developed disease challenge pact via the aforementioned selec- to infection in fish. Along similar models to assess resistance to many tive breeding programs. In parallel, lines, it is plausible to use genome- viral and bacterial pathogens during high-quality, well-annotated refer- editing technology to generate im- early-life stages. ence genomes are available for most proved cell lines for fish species, for Finally, should favorable al- of the key species. A high-quality example by enabling more efficient leles for a target trait (e.g., disease species-specific reference genome is production of viruses for future resistance) be created or discov- essential for the effective design of vaccine development by knocking ered, then there is potential for target gRNAs with high specificity out key components of the inter- widespread dissemination of the and minimum change of off-target feron pathway. improved germplasm for rapid im- editing.

» 31 ARTICLE

Viral infections (and resistance to those infections) are high-priority target traits for in vitro studies using CRISPR/Cas9.

Applications of Genome Editing lantic salmon, in which a major QTL new avenues to improve aquaculture for Aquaculture Research and explains the majority of the genetic production and sustainability. There Production variation. Marker-assisted selection, are three main categories by which Infectious diseases are one of the which is based on the targeted use genome-editing technology could primary threats to sustainable aqua- of molecular genetic markers linked be applied to make step changes in culture, with an estimated 40% of to QTL, has been successfully ap- genetic improvement, and each re- the total potential production lost per plied to markedly reduce the impact quires different approaches to the annum. Due to the formative stage of this disease. However, despite underpinning research leading to of domestication of many aquacul- several QTL studies in aquaculture discovery of functional alleles: (i) ture species, new selection and dis- species and ample evidence for the detecting, promoting, removing, ease pressures in the farm environ- heritability of disease resistance or fixing targeted functional alleles ment may increase the possibility that traits, only a handful of large-effect at single or multiple QTL(s) segre- standing genetic variation in farmed QTL have been detected, and most gating within current broodstock populations includes loci of major disease resistance and other produc- populations of a selective breeding effect, which may represent poten- tion-relevant traits are underpinned program; (ii) targeted introgression- tial ‘low-hanging fruit’ for genome by a polygenic genetic architecture. by-editing of favorable variants from editing to increase the frequency of The substantial opportunity for different populations, strains, or spe- the favorable allele. A well-known genetic improvement of disease cies to introduce or improve novel example of a major quantitative trait resistance and other performance traits in a population; and (iii) cre- locus (QTL) affecting disease resis- traits in aquaculture species, com- ating and utilizing de novo favorable tance is the case of infectious pan- bined with initial success of in vivo alleles that are not known to exist creatic necrosis virus (IPNV) in At- genome-editing trials, opens exciting elsewhere.

32 » Fixing Alleles at Existing QTL rate associated with introgressing al- Detecting and utilizing causative leles from wild strains), and it allows variants for QTL affecting produc- access to genetic variation in other tion traits is a fundamental goal of strains and species that would not be The substantial opportunity most animal breeding and genetics possible using conventional selec- research, albeit with few success sto- tive-breeding methods. for genetic improvement of ries to date. Simulations have dem- From a pragmatic standpoint, the disease resistance and other onstrated that harnessing genome early applications of such introgres- editing for favorable causative al- sion-by-editing approaches will need performance traits in aquaculture leles at multiple QTLs as part of a to hold promise for transformative species, combined with initial breeding program, has the potential impacts on production to justify the to expedite genetic gain compared extensive research and development success of in vivo genome- with pedigree or genomic selec- effort required. In Atlantic salmon, editing trials, opens exciting new tion alone. However, a major chal- parasitic copepod sea lice (Lepeoph- lenge for the effective application theirus salmonis in the Northern hemi- avenues to improve aquaculture of this approach is the successful sphere and Caligus rogercresseyi in the production and sustainability. identification of causative variation Southern hemisphere) have a crip- underpinning QTLs, particularly pling impact on sustainable aqua- those of small effect. A challenge culture, with an economic impact for polygenic traits is the need to of over GBP £700 million (USD$ production, creating de novo favor- edit multiple alleles simultaneously 880 million) per annum globally. A able alleles (i.e., those that are dis- in the same broodstock animal(s) unique aspect of aquaculture is the tinct from any naturally occurring al- to achieve notable impact using this proximity of farmed species to ex- leles, to the best of our knowledge) approach and, therefore, develop- tant wild species and populations is another exciting avenue and has al- ment and improvement of multi- that may have desirable character- ready resulted in potential solutions plex genome-editing approaches is istics. For example, certain Pacific to animal production and welfare required. salmon species, such as Coho salm- problems. In this approach, novel al- on (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and pink leles can be created using CRISPR/ Introgression-by-Editing: salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), are Cas9 based on a priori knowledge Accessing Alleles from largely resistant to sea lice and are of the biology of the trait of inter- Different Strains or Species able to mount a successful immune est, or from genome-wide genetic One of the exciting possibilities response against the parasite. It is perturbation approaches to iden- of genome editing is to access ge- plausible that there are key regulato- tify candidate genes influencing the netic variation outside closed breed- ry genes in the pathways underpin- trait. An example of the former is ing populations, without the need ning differential resistance between the development of Porcine Repro- for costly and time-consuming in- the species that could be modified ductive and Respiratory Syndrome trogression programs, or in cases in Atlantic salmon to mimic the re- Virus (PRRSV) resistance in pigs, where introgression is impossible. sponse to sea lice exhibited by the where genome editing was used to It is common that a particular farm Coho salmon. This may be targeted knockout the CD163 gene, resulting animal strain, or a closely related editing of the coding sequence and/ in a viable animal missing the entire species, has a desirable characteris- or modulation of the regulatory receptor, or created a modified re- tic. If the alleles responsible can be sequence to enhance or suppress ceptor by removing a specific exon identified, then CRISPR technology the expression of these key host and its associated protein domain. potentially allows editing of the un- response genes. However, overall Similar approaches have been used favorable allele in the target strain modification of expression may not in aquaculture, including modifica- and/or species to correspond to achieve the desired effect. tion of the dnd allele to induce steril- the sequence of the favorable allele ity in Atlantic salmon and targeting found in the related strain or spe- Creating de novo Variants Based the mstn1 gene in several fish species cies (i.e., introgression-by-editing). on Knowledge of the Trait to increase growth (Table 1). Alter- In other words, it offers new op- While genome editing based on ex- natively, reverse genetic screens can portunities to bypass traditional in- isting genetic variation (either within facilitate the discovery of de novo trogression, thereby avoiding the the farmed strain, or via introgres- alleles impacting traits of interest. downsides associated with linkage sion-by-editing) gives rise to possi- Such genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 drag (e.g., negative effects on growth bilities for major benefits in animal screens can be performed in cell

» 33 ARTICLE lines, and may provide de novo targets to drive the expression of the gRNA siderable debate about the definition for downstream testing and poten- in the different species and systems. of genetic modification (GM) and tial editing in vivo, in particular for Viral infections (and resistance whether genome-editing approaches disease resistance traits (see below). to those infections) are high-priority should be considered separately. If target traits for in vitro studies using genome editing is considered sepa- Pooled CRISPR Screens for CRISPR/Cas9, because the innate rately, the different applications Disease Resistance mechanisms of host response are discussed earlier may be subject to A major bottleneck for aquaculture usually cell-intrinsic and, therefore, different regulations. For example, research is the lack of suitable, well- amenable to interrogation in existing genome editing animals could be tested, and characterized cell lines immortalized cell lines. Developing created with just single base chang- for many species of interest. Indeed, this technology would help facilitate es in their genome that correspond for many crustacean and molluscan an integration of large-scale genetic to existing polymorphisms within species, there are no well-established screens to inform the biology under- farmed and/or wild stocks. Alterna- immortalized cell lines. Developing pinning disease resistance and pro- tively, de novo alleles can be created such platforms will make genome- vide a pipeline of candidate alleles that are absent in nature to the best wide screening approaches a more for application to commercial aqua- of our knowledge (e.g., PRRSV re- realistic possibility in major aquacul- culture breeding (Figure 1). sistance in pigs). The former may ture species. Recently, medaka, carp, be more acceptable to the public and chinook salmon cell lines were Factors Affecting Public and and could feasibly be subjected to edited using CRISPR/Cas9. The em- Regulatory Acceptance less stringent regulatory procedures. bryonic chinook salmon CHSE-EC Innovation in technology is essential However, the ruling by the Euro- cell line is the only fish cell line with to advance food production to ad- pean Court of Justice that genome stable integration of Cas9, another dress the increasing global demand. edited crops should be considered important component of pooled CRISPR/Cas9 technology has the GM organisms is likely to hinder CRISPR screens. Various aspects exciting potential to contribute to the commercial-scale application of of in vitro genome editing need to the improved quantity, quality, and genome editing in EU farmed spe- be optimized in aquaculture species, sustainability of seafood production cies. Nonetheless, it is noteworthy including methods for the genomic globally. However, public and regu- that a GM salmon (the AquaBounty integration of large inserts and opti- latory acceptance are key to its po- salmon with a transgenic growth mization of which promoter to use tential being realized. There is con- hormone gene) has been approved

A major bottleneck for aquaculture research is the lack of suitable, well-tested, and characterized cell lines for many species of interest, such as crustaceans and mollusks.

34 » Figure 1

for human consumption by the FDA and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Furthermore, a line of tilapia derived from genome editing by the same company has been exempted from GM regulation in Argentina. It is clear there will be longstanding uncertainty about the regulation of edited animals, and the process will vary considerably in different countries. Therefore, extensive engagement with the public and other stakeholders to facilitate knowledge-driven decisions about benefits and risks of the technologies is key. From a public accep- tance standpoint, it is important to consider the nature of the target traits, and whether the potential benefits stretch beyond sustainable production and profit. For example, traits such as sterility also have downstream benefits for the environment and wild stocks, and traits such as disease resistance have substantial concurrent benefits for animal welfare.

This article was adapted from: Remi L. Gratacap, Anna Wargelius, Rolf Brudvik Edvardsen, and Ross D. Houston. Potential of Genome Editing to Improve Aquaculture Breeding and Production. Trends in Genetics, September 2019, Vol. 35, No. 9. In adherence with open access conditions outlined at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

» 35 ARTICLE Enhancing aquaponics management with IoT-based Predictive Analytics for efficient information utilization

Modern aquaponic systems can be highly successful, but they require By: Divas Karimanzira, Thomas intensive monitoring, control and management. Rauschenbach*

he Automation Pyramid (AP) with its layers of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCA- DA),T Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is widely applied for process control. With cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT)-based Pre- dictive Analytics at the fore marsh, it is worth finding out if IoT will make these technologies obsolete, or they can work together to gain more beneficial results. In this paper, we will discuss the enhancement of SCADA, ERP and MES with IoT in aquaponics and likewise how IoT- based Predictive Analytics can help to get more out of it. Consider the problem in Fig. 1 for example, where the red dots rep- resent aquaponic sites owned by an enterprise or a consortium with its own Automation Pyramid (AP). The classical automation pyramid does not suffice to intelligently and effi- ciently manage the complete system. Today’s double recirculation aqua- ponics approach is a complex inte- grated production operation that en- compasses recirculating aquaculture systems and hydroponics to produce fish and plants in a closed-loop sys- tem. The fish produce nutrient-rich effluent that is used as fertilizer for

36 » Fig. 1 Problem illustration. Red dots: aquaponics sites. Black dot: aquaponics enterprise. Yellow dots: aquaponics hardware and software installer and service.

the plants. Fish waste is broken down by bacteria into dissolved nutrients that plants then utilize to grow in the hydroponic component. This nutrient removal not only improves water quality for the fish but also decreases overall water consumption by limiting the amount re- leased as effluent. Several processes such as mechanical and biological filtering, pumping, heating etc. are involved in the sys- tem. Evaporated water from the plant sector is regained via cooling traps and reintegrated into the fish tanks. The double recirculation aquaponics technology allows the setting up of optimum conditions both in the fish and in the plant units, thus ensuring high productivity and enhancing resource efficiency. Aquaponics can be scaled from “mini” units for hob- byists to commercial production facilities. Further, the market increasingly demands individualized products. Product life cycles are getting shorter and average lot sizes are getting smaller. Considering this, cost-efficient production in a globalized and resource limited environ- ment requires a highly flexible (IT-) infrastructure that also works well in cross-enterprise networks. All these features require new capabilities in system control, di- agnosis for maintenance, and management. Once stabi- lized, the system should be able to run day and night with less human intervention. For the installation companies, flexible adaptation to special aquaponics configurations

» 37 ARTICLE

as well as specific parameterization Fig. 2 of the individual modules is a pre- The automation system pyramid. requisite. The diagnosis and main- tenance of such systems requires an extensive knowledge of aquaponics. Therefore, a direct support for the aquaponics operator is indispens- able, especially in the case of errors. In most cases the direct support is not on site. Traditionally, systems such as aquaponics are managed using the automation pyramid as shown in Fig. 2. The automation pyramid has five layers which can be divided into two distinct sections: production process at the bottom (i.e. sensors, actua- tors, hardware, Programmable Logic Controls (PLCs) etc.), while the en- terprise resource planning systems for business management (i.e. the Supervisory Control and Data Ac- quisition (SCADA) network, Manu- facturing Execution System (MES) and Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP)) comprise the top level. The least amount of data is featured at the top and as one goes down the Fig. 3 amount of data increases, as the The future for aquaponics process automation systems with IoT. amount of information increases. At the bottom, where the sensors and actuators are, information is sent to the control level where they control the production process. The only data sent between the control level to the HMI level is that which the

The double recirculation aquaponics technology allows the setting up of optimum conditions both in the fish and in the plant units, thus ensuring high operator needs to be transferred, as fined hierarchic separation in such a productivity and enhancing such it is less frequently transferred way that information flows upwards resource efficiency. and in bigger packets. from devices to enterprise via levels The classical automation pyramid of control, supervision and manage- paradigm is due to its strict well de- ment. By analyzing the features of

38 » historical data which is the founda- INAPRO demonstration sites in tion for predictive analytics and in- Europe and one in China (Fig. 4). formed decision-making. In general, the demonstration sites Cost-efficient production in a For an enterprise to really flour- consist of a fish farm with the recir- globalized and resource limited ish, its personnel, data and process- culating aquaculture system (RAS). es should be connected in a smart Different hybrid energy systems can environment requires a highly way. ERP provides a back office for be utilized according to the geologi- flexible (IT-) infrastructure all data within an enterprise as well cal location, e.g. combined heat and as an integrated and continuously power plant (CHP), Photovoltaic that also works well in cross- update-to-date view of key busi- etc. The aquaponics are of differ- ness activities. However, without ent scale, e.g. one has a total area of enterprise networks. data analytics and the adaptability 573 m2 and the site is expected to provided by cloud-based IoT, ERP produce around 24 tons of African is only a large chunk of transaction Catfish and 11 tons of tomatoes per data. While ERP gives a view of year. Further, there is a fish and to- the current situation, IoT can pro- mato manufacture at only one site. the individual layers the enhance- vide insights into the root causes A control and management platform ment which can be created by IoT and grounds for actions to proceed has been implemented at all the sites can be seen. The connecting of forward. A large part of activities according to architecture of the clas- physical things to the internet makes and processes can be automated sical automation pyramid. it possible to access remote sensor to reduce trivial and repeatedly ac- For this platform several IoT data and control the physical world complished manual work such as the services can be provided which in- from a distance. manual sensor reading done in most clude energy management, moni- aquaponics. toring based on GrowWatch, diag- Methodology MES provides a view of the pro- The main objective of the cloud- duction floor activity to the higher based IoT-based Predictive Analyt- level decision makers, e.g., managers ics enabled Aquaponics is to bring and provides a strong foundation the world of business data and the for IoT application. One important world of automation data much feature of MES has always been that closer together in order to reduce it uses external smart devices to col- the number of media breaks and the lect data and processes the data to number of isolated aquaponics ap- the system and controllers that MES plications. In addition, the combined can communicate with. With cloud- data will be the basis for completely based IoT and the vast amount of new insights. After analyzing the data IoT pulls in the ecosystem, classical automation pyramid in Fig. MES can become more flexible, eas- 1, a new structure is obtained as in ily tailored to suit different require- Fig. 3. ments of an enterprise. Non-cloud SCADA is eminently a tool for MES, without IoT, makes it very supervisors, which is meant to help difficult for aquaponics operators to to make decisions for the produc- benchmark efficiency and produc- tion line, but it does not give a ho- tivity across different plants of the listic view of the production floor same group or other competitors. to make top decisions. The inability Connected to cloud-based IoT, the of SCADA systems to connect to aquaponics management system will legacy computing systems, computer be able to communicate and work techniques with disparate communi- with different types of media devic- cation protocols, has generated the es such as mobile phones. demand for federated data storage of different data sets. Cloud-based Use Case IoT-based Predictive Analytics can Consider the aquaponics systems enhance SCADA by providing real- from the INAPRO project. The IN- time as well as analysis for available APRO partners have realized four

» 39 ARTICLE

Fig. 4 INAPRO aquaponics demonstration sites (Source: www.inapro.eu).

The classical automation pyramid paradigm is due to its strict well defined hierarchic separation in such a way that information flows upwards from devices to Table 1 enterprise via levels of control, Scenario specification and analysis. supervision and management.

40 » nostics and maintenance assistance, Fig. 5 econometric services and for the manufacturing component, a logis- Control and aquaponic system material flow. tics tracking service to understand how the production is moving and being stored in real-time cold chain processes. Through an application program interface (API) made with MongoDB, the system tracks the status of various sensors and relays, e.g., water level in both, aquaculture and hydroponic tanks, pH of wa- ter temperature of water, turbidity/ TDS of water, flow rate, and Green- house ambient conditions. The re- mote user can access the data being generated from this system using an interface. Like other distributed sys- tems, this requires mapping each sig- nal in the database once it has been connected. This is then visualized Enterprise: economic analysis source and weather conditions using using a web front end which has a service mobile devices, sensors and automat- similar visualization as the physical As an example, the econometric ser- ed feeders. Combined with other data, system (Fig. 5). This can also be sent vice will be elaborated briefly here. the algorithms go to work to provide to a broadcast-like service such as For this module the platform collects recommendations such as remote Twitter for example to inform cus- data on fish size, water quality, feed- maintenance, feeding management tomers about the harvest dates. ing patterns, energy use and supply strategies and optimal harvest dates.

» 41 ARTICLE

Fig. 6 Fish growth in different tanks, stocking density and control parameters. The main objective of the cloud-based IoT-based Predictive Analytics enabled Aquaponics is to bring the world of business data and the world of automation data much closer together in order to reduce the number of media breaks and the number of isolated aquaponics applications.

With all the information enter- ing the operation cloud from the SCADA, and other sources, models are adaptively used to predict the growth of the fish and the plants, food ration size, fresh water re- quired as well as the yield and es- timated harvest dates. Information from other aquaponics site is used to make the models robust. For ex- ample, the mechanical (MF) and the Fig. 7 biological filter efficiency (BF) as Nutrient concentration/Fresh water supply. well as the initial stocking density (S0) can be varied and every time the system re-optimized to get a 700 g tilapia. With changes in the bio- logical filter efficiency more or less Ammonia is nitrified which leads to another growth rate. Thus, with a better filtering technique larger ra- tion sizes and higher protein con- tent of the feed are possible, the raising period is thus shorter and the profit greater as can be seen in the scenario analysis in Table 1. Table 1 shows that a 700 g tilapia can be produced in 265 days with net return of 0.034 cents/liter/day using a 20 percent dietary protein feed. Scenarios 1–4 show the in- crease in days to harvest and decli- nation in net return if the efficiency of the wastewater treatment units decreases with effects of the bio- logical filter being predominant. In

42 » Table 2 erated if the reading goes beyond the system’s tolerances. Some select- Remote assist rules. ed rules of the system are shown in Table 2. The inference engine uses a forward-chaining strategy, based on the previous production rules and the reasoning is of deductive type, from the facts to the goal. Figures 8 and 9 show the results of this IoT service in automatic mode, rule 5 and 2, respectively. Alarms and cor- rective measures are triggered as can be seen in the Figures, for example on 04.11 in Fig. 8 were nitrate is- sues (in this case a controller out- age was simulated), and in Fig. 9, the fish growth is predicted to be slower than expected.

Challenges The benefits of deploying cloud- based IoT for flexible aquaponics have been shown but there exist the simulation attempt, tilapia pro- tem. It uses historical failure data some challenges which should not duction was staggered in five rear- in the system and expert knowledge be neglected and need to be ad- ing tanks so that one rearing tank is to remotely conduct a diagnosis of dressed. The first challenge ‘‘con- harvested every 6 weeks after a year. the system and produce some rec- nectivity” has been already men- Fish are moved from one rearing to ommendations for service or auto- tioned in the text. The lack of IoT the next after a certain period. Figs. matically intervene for example in standards causes less interoperabil- 6 and 7 show as an example a de- the case of aeration failure. Firstly, ity and all sorts of automation de- tailed description of the optimiza- a list of potential problem areas and vices from different brands or even tion for which the biological filter water quality parameters are com- from one single brand with diverse and mechanical filter efficiencies of piled according to their relative im- protocols are being used which are the system were set to 0.95 and 0.5, portance and the required response incompatible at the data layer. respectively. Both the ration quanti- time each will require. Life support Another important element that ty ( R ) as well as the protein content priorities in aquaculture start with should not be underestimated is ( D ) were always as high as possible, water, followed by adequate levels but as soon as the ammonia concen- of dissolved oxygen. In response tration approached the critical limit times parameters which require fast of 0.2 mg/l, these values went down response time – minutes include again. This is attributed to the rela- electrical power, water level in tank, The benefits of deploying cloud- tively expensive water price of 2.27 dissolved oxygen - aeration system/ based IoT for flexible aquaponics Eur/l and the ammonia concen- oxygen system, moderate response tration is determined significantly time –hours include temperature, have been shown but there exist by the amount of the protein con- carbon dioxide and normally slowly some challenges which should sumed by the fish. Growth will thus changing – days include pH, alkalin- not be neglected and need to be be retarded but the profit is, howev- ity, ammonia- nitrogen nitrite nitro- er, greater than that of a high water gen and nitrate-nitrogen. A fuzzy addressed, such as: connectivity, exchange rate. system for diagnosis is developed by cost of implementation, adequate rule extraction from collected data, Installer: monitoring and remote i.e. data from the public cloud and know-how, reliable electricity service assistance the demonstration sites. and mobile internet and security Another example service for use of Based on variation of the moni- issues. IoT in the system is a monitoring tored parameters, alerts and solu- and remote service assistance sys- tion recommendations will be gen-

» 43 ARTICLE

the cost of implementing the IoT Fig. 8 solutions (initial costs, cost of IoT Alarm nitrate concentration. enabled sensors is relatively high, buying mobile data for real-time monitoring and storage to the cloud or remote centers for analysis). As an additional cost to already exist- ing running systems, it is often per- ceived as overwhelming. Therefore, the choice of IoT platform should be based on the determinants such as ease of use and training and ready adaptability. Further issues involve the lack of adequate know-how: Most aqua- ponic owners or operators are not IT educated. They can have all the

44 » Fig. 9 Alarm fish growth rate.

IoT systems can produce unprecedented improvements in many areas of aquaponics system operations but require MES, ERP and SCADA to leverage their true potential and benefits.

information but cannot utilize it. data and reduce manual human in- More serious is also that in many teractions. Various parameters can places there is not enough skilled be viewed in real time and collected man power to deploy the IoT tech- from systems (Temperature, pH, nology at its fullest. Another im- soil moisture, O2 content etc.). The portant factor is that the availabil- operator connected to the opera- ity of reliable electricity and mobile tions cloud can control the various internet to the aquaponics facilities aquaponics system components is required. Last but not least, the such as heaters, lights and fish feed- well-known security issues. IoT de- ers, or change parameters of filter- vices communicate automatically ing equipment according to his/ with each other. In the absence of a her system intervention rights, re- secure and properly encrypted net- motely. All the collected data can be work, the adoption of IoT could analyzed to get an insight into the lead to brand new security challeng- growth as well as the energy/sys- es and vulnerabilities. tems utilizations, and can be used to make the models for Predictive Conclusions Analytics increasingly robust. An enhancement of the automation IoT systems can produce unprec- pyramid for an aquaponics system edented improvements in many areas with cloud-based IoT Predictive of aquaponics system operations but Analytics was presented. It helps require MES, ERP and SCADA to to automate real-time data collec- leverage their true potential and ben- tion and analysis, i.e., continually efits. In the future, the services need monitor and analyze the conditions to be integrated in to the online sys- of fish and plants at different sites, tem for testing and we shall investi- Adapted (under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- take automated corrective measures gate the monetary benefits of IoT in nc-nd/4.0/) from: to balance the deviation based on aquaponics (installation and running D. Karimanzira and T. Rauschenbach. 2019. Enhanc- ing aquaponics management with IoT-based Predictive ideal data from experts to increase costs) and issues of system/data se- Analytics for efficient information utilization. Information revenue and reduce risks of false curity and sovereignty. Processing in Agriculture 6(2019):375-385.

» 45 Africa Report: Recent News and Events

By: Staff / Aquaculture Magazine International Fund for Agricul- tural Development (IFAD), the Republic of Kenya, and the coun- try’s aquaculture sector In June 2018, IFAD announced that more than 35,000 rural households in Kenya would soon be eating bet- ter and earning more money thanks to a financial agreement signed by the Fund and the Republic of Kenya in support of the country’s aqua- culture sector. The agreement was to provide financial support to the Aquaculture Business Development Programme and related activities de- signed to promote fish production in an economically and environmen- Courtesy USAID Southern Africa. tally sustainable manner in 15 target counties. The programme’s goals are to high in rural areas and it’s hoped the The total cost of the programme assist thousands of smallholder new programme will slow outward was reported as US$143.3 million, farmers in becoming profitable fish migration. including a $40.0 million loan from producers or village-level provid- Since 1979, IFAD has financed IFAD. The programme was struc- ers of support services within value 18 rural development programmes tured to be co-financed by the FAO chains in counties that already have and projects in Kenya at a total cost of the United Nations ($400,000), aquaculture-related infrastructure, of $819.3 million, with an IFAD in- the Government of Kenya ($31.4 adequate water resources, marketing vestment of $376.3 million. These million) and by the beneficiaries potential, and high poverty rates. projects have directly benefitted themselves ($43.6 million). The fi- The proposed approach blends more than 4.3 million rural house- nancing gap of $27.9 million will be public- and private-sector invest- holds. covered from future IFAD financing ments in the aquaculture value chain Fifteen county governments have rounds or by potential co-financing with community-wide initiatives that been challenged to invest in aquacul- partners. promote good nutrition and food ture and build internal markets for The financial agreement, signed security through education and bet- fish to sustain an eight-year aqua- in Rome by Gilbert F. Houngbo, ter access to affordable foods. culture project funded by an inter- President of IFAD, and Harriet M. The new programme will pay spe- national agency to the tune of Sh15 Nduma, Charge d’affaires a.i. of the cial attention to women and youth. billion. Embassy of the Republic of Ke- For example, while women are en- The International Fund for Ag- nya, will go a long way to improving gaged in most areas of fish value ricultural Development (IFAD) is food security and reducing poverty chains, recent studies show that men funding the project which is being in rural areas where 75 percent of receive a larger share of the benefits. implemented in top aquaculture pro- Kenyans live. Youth unemployment is also very ducing counties including Meru, Th-

46 » araka-Nithi, Embu, Isiolo, Laikipia, Kirinyaga and Nyeri. Each county has been allocated at least Sh1 bil- lion. Fisheries Principal Secretary Prof Micheni Ntiba said the project will face serious challenges without a reliable local market, and urged the county governments to partner with private sector in implementing the plan. The PS said an aquacul- ture project that started in 2009 col- lapsed, noting that the current initia- tive is meant to revive it.

African Great Lakes workshop scheduled The African Center for Aquatic Re- search and Education (ACARE) and its partners are holding a workshop: Strengthening Capacity in Research, Courtesy West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program. Policy and Management through Development of a Network of Af- guidance, structure, and ideas on nize research efforts and garner the rican Great Lakes Basin Stakehold- how to move forward as a commu- resources necessary to conduct this ers (AGL Stakeholder Network nity on the African Great Lakes. research. The overall purpose for Workshop) in Entebbe, Uganda on The motivation for this process this approach is to ensure strong, ro- November 5-7, 2019. This is a re- comes from decades of disparate bust science with long-term, coordi- scheduling of a workshop that was research approaches that have often nated data to help influence positive planned to be held in Malawi in Au- lacked coordination to aggregate changes in freshwater policy and gust. past or current research data. The management. Advisory groups will The workshop is the first step outcome has often been weak data work towards collaborative efforts of creating a long-term, collabora- sets inadequate to positively inform including: tive process with global freshwater policies and management. Without • Aquaculture experts in order to address the big- a harmonized approach, the African • Education of Africa’s next genera- gest challenges facing the African Great Lakes community often lacks tion of freshwater experts Great Lakes. To do this, ACARE is the ability to prioritize research to • Long-term, base-line monitoring developing a stakeholder network tackle the biggest problems. More information about the work- of lake-specific Advisory Groups to To address the challenges on shop, including a draft agenda and guide future research. Experts from the African Great Lakes, ACARE registration information, can be Africa, Europe, and North Ameri- and its partners are creating lake- found at www.agl-acare.org/2019- ca will be in attendance to provide specific advisory groups to harmo- workshop

» 47 Lagos scales up fish production Lagos State Government says it is implementing programmes and projects that would upscale fish pro- duction and harness the enormous economic opportunities available in the agricultural value chains in the State. The Permanent Secretary, Min- istry of Agriculture, Dr. Olayiwole Onasanya shared this news in Lagos last month at the closing ceremony of the 15th Annual Executive Week- end Training on Investment Oppor- tunities in Fish Farming organised by his Ministry, noting that these programmers and projects have sig- nificantly increased fish production, created jobs and stimulated econom- ic activities in the State. He identified the programmes and projects to include fish farm estates development; fish cage cul- Courtesy Worldfish. ture system; training/capacity build- ing programmes; agricultural value chains empowerment and artisanal fisheries development among others. “Lagos State with a population of 22 million people is structured to have a fish demand of 374,000 tons per annum as against the current fish production figure of 155,262 tons per annum. The deficit in sup- ply is being met through importa- tion which gulps enormous foreign exchange which the Federal Ministry of Agriculture has estimated at a to- tal sum of USD 1 billion,” the Per- manent Secretary explained. According to him, very wide in- vestment opportunities exist within the Agricultural Value Chain both within the country and internation- ally, especially now that there is the need to increase export of non-oil commodities in order to earn for- eign exchange for the financing of the nation’s economy. African catfish courtesy USAID.

48 » a fish consultancy firm. The stated goal would be to raise funds, create financial freedom and encourage ru- ral empowerment. Mr. Kamfya explained that “Any- one who wants to join our platform can sign on through internet and so- cial media. After that, he/she will be required to invest a maximum capital of Sh1 million (USD 435) to Sh50,000 (USD 21.75).” He went on to state that registration had already begun through the online platform for persons interested in investing in a tilapia or catfish farm. “So far the registration process is going on well” he said. “We have at least 30 people registered and before the end of this month we expect to reach 200 peo- ple through an online system.” “By investing in fish farming, farmers contribute to food security” Mukasa-Farms Courtesy Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation. Kamfya continued. “We encourage Onasanya explained that the Potentials,” he added. people to invest in fish farming to 4-day Executive Weekend Train- Onasanya urged the 43 partici- fill the gap” referring to the short- ing Programme has been carefully pants to make good use of the les- fall in fisheries products that plagues structured to equip participants that sons learnt during their training Tanzania. The business hopes to at- include aspiring fish farmers and programme as well as to leverage tract $30,000 in the next 18 months retiring executives, both in the pri- available government extension ser- in order to produce some 10 tons of vate and public sectors among oth- vices towards successful fish farm- tilapia and catfish. Mr. Obey Assery, ers with relevant knowledge of best ing businesses. Since the commence- Director of Policy and Planning in practices in aquaculture. The pro- ment of the training programme in the Ministry of Agriculture, indicat- gramme broadens participants’ prac- 2005, no fewer than 912 people have ed that the platform initiative would tical experience in fish juvenile and been trained which has contributed enable a number of young people to feed production as well as exposes to the increased investments in the venture into fish farming. them to investment opportunities fish farming value chain in the State. available in fish farming. “The training programme has New online platform introduced a special focus on the overview of to promote fish farming in Fisheries development in Lagos Tanzania State, Fish Culture Systems and An online platform called Jamvi Management, Water Quality Man- has been introduced with the hope agement & Disease Control, Pros- of promoting investments in aqua- pects for Cage and Pen Culture culture. The founder of Jamvi, System in Lagos State, Hatchery Shadrack Kamfya, said a fishpond Management and Fingerling Pro- would be established in Bagamoyo duction, Fish Feed Formulation and with a production capacity of some Nutrition, Fish Farming Insurance 10,000 fish. Kamfya indicated that and Fish Preservation, Processing, the company was collaborating with Packaging, Marketing and Export » 49 LATIN AMERICA REPORT Latin America Report: Recent News and Events

First company to be granted with for the Colombian tilapia industry to import license for tilapia genetic improve productivity and sustainabil- material to Colombia ity in their businesses. Benchmark’s Spring Genetics®, in First shipment with new Import a multilateral collaboration with the protocol. United States Department of Agri- The first shipment of genetic mate- culture – Animal and Plant Health In- rial to Acuacultivos el Guajaro, Spring spection Service (USDA-APHIS), the Genetics®’ distributor for the Ca- Federación Colombiana de Acuicul- ribbean Region, began at the end of tura (FEDEACUA), and Acuacultivos September. Ongoing negotiations COMMERCIAL EXHIBIT El Guajaro were successful at com- with other Colombian companies are The LACQUA19 is presented as a pleting all processes to obtain, for the being held to secure a wider national business opportunity for the sector, first time in decades, a license to im- reach. Spring Tilapia fingerlings will be including commercial exhibits, with port greatly needed new tilapia genetic commercially available in Colombia in the presence of national and foreign material to the country. Spring Tila- 2020. companies representing the entire pia®, brand name of the tilapia strain Expertise and Technology trans- aquaculture value and supply chains. provided by Spring Genetics, has gone fer. The organizers are pleased to confirm through 8 generations of selection at With a nucleus in Florida, USA, the participation of companies such a breeding nucleus in Miami. Selec- Spring Genetics’ breeding program as Jefo, VYMISA, Zinpro, Merck, Bio- tion has focused on key traits such as is designed and supervised by its mar, DSM, Intermas, Prilabsa, Kytola fast growth, survivability and yield, sister company, Norwegian based Instruments, Grupo Rolan, Zeigler, and more recently, advanced genomic Akvaforsk Genetics (AFGC), a lead- Darling, Aker Biomarine, Solacua, selection for resistance to Streptococcus ing provider of genetic improve- Faivre, Bayer, Tectron, Igusol, Feed iniae and S. agalactiae. ment services to aquaculture indus- Pro, Technoaqua, Flint Hill Resourc- The tilapia genetics that will be tries worldwide. AFGC has extensive es, Willfort Aquaculture, Calitri Te- available in the country, along with experience from more than 15 large chonology, K-Nikom, Reed Maricul- high biosecurity and continuous health scale selection programs covering 15 ture, Magic Valley, Wenger, ESE Intec, surveillance at the breeding nucleus, species in 25 countries across Eu- and Grupo Trisan. will provide a significant opportunity rope, Asia and the Americas. More information about this event can be found at: https://www.was. Upcoming event: LACQUA19, org/meeting/code/lacqua19 updated information and details SPECIAL SESSIONS During México has been designated the upcoming congress a number to preside over the 11th meeting of of sponsored special sessions will the FAO’S Aquaculture take place, including “Ingredients Subcommittee, which will for Aquafeed” (DSM), “Functional be held in the country in 2021 Ingredients for Aquafeed” (JEFO In the latest meeting of the FAO’s Nutrition and VYMISA), “Tilapia aquaculture subcommittee held in Health” (Merck), and “Innovation Trondheim, Norway Mr. Giovanni in Shrimp Farming” (Biomar). Ad- Fiore Amaral, representative of Mex- ditionally, there will be an industry ico, was elected as president for the forum for producers, where interna- next meeting, which will also be held tional and regional companies and in his country. To occupy the positions entities will participate, sharing im- of first to fifth vice-presidents, Indo- portant information on the business nesia, South Africa, Fiji and Belgium of aquaculture. were elected, respectively.

50 » ment for aquaculture feed formulators containing detailed information on around the world. the chemical composition and nutri- The International Aquaculture tional value of more than 500 ingre- Feed Formulation Database (IAFFD), dients, and 2) the Aquaculture Species previously known as the Asian Aqua- Nutritional Specifications Database culture Feed Formulation Database (ASNS) including nutrient specifica- (AAFFD), is an open access, free of tions for over 30 species, or groups of charge, database that answers some species, that are commercially impor- important needs of this industry. The tant in Asia and elsewhere. IAFFD was developed by a consor- Data in ASNS is derived largely tium comprised of the University from a nutritional modeling effort The Mexican delegation, pres- of Guelph’s Fish Nutrition Research that is built on the standardized com- ent at the 10th meeting where the Laboratory (UG-FNRL Guelph, ON, pilation, integration, and analysis of election took place, expressed that: Canada) and Seafood Consulting As- available scientific and technical data. “Mexico recognizes that public poli- sociates (Bangkok, Thailand), with the Data in the FICD comes from the cies for fisheries and aquaculture, as support of the United States Soybean compilation of information from a well as their continuous improvement, Export Council (USSEC), MITACS variety of documents and databases must be based on existing tools such (Canada) and the Maximizing Agri- on the chemical composition and nu- as the Code of Conduct for Respon- cultural Revenue through Knowledge, tritive value of about 400 feed ingre- sible Fisheries, the Sustainable De- Enterprise Development and Trade dients that can potentially be used in velopment Objectives, and a holistic (MARKET) Project, an initiative aquaculture feeds. approach to aquaculture development funded by the United States Agency All the data contained in this data- and the blue revolution, among oth- for International Development (US- base are guidelines. These guidelines ers. This is applicable to national AID). are intended to assist international legislation and international efforts Around 40 specialists from dif- aquaculture feed manufacturers in being made by organizations such as ferent Latin American countries at- making informed decisions regarding the World Organization for Animal tended this first seminar, which was the formulation of feeds for differ- Health (OIE).” held during August in Guadalajara, ent species at different life stages or In the 11th meeting, to be hosted Mexico. The distribution of this free different weight ranges. The IAFFD by Mexico in 2021, the organization tool and related training to nutrition- is a reference tool and not a substi- will include a forum and discussion ists and aquaculture feed manufac- tute for the research, analyses and due panels oriented to dialogue and tech- turers in Latin America responds to diligence that a feed manufacturer nical advice between FAO’s Subcom- the effort put into the development should carry out. The tool and all mittee of Fisheries and FAO’s Sub- of the data base during the last four available information on the data base committee of Aquaculture. years. Its dissemination, starting now can be accessed freely at: www.iaffd. in Latin American countries, should com . Workshops and seminars such USSEC held the first feed contribute greatly to the intensive de- as this one will continue to be held formulation seminar and velopment of cost-effective aquacul- in Latin America during the upcom- workshop in Latin America to ture feeds. ing year, and details will be available at encourage use of the IAFFD The IAFFD is comprised of two USSEC’s events website once the in- The aquaculture feed industry is made major modules: 1) the Feed Ingredi- formation has been confirmed. Link: up of a multitude of larger and small- ent Composition Database (FICD) https://ussec.org/events/ er feed manufacturers with very differ- ent scientific and technical capabilities and logistical and financial resources. The large number of aquatic species and life stages cultivated, the diver- sity of production systems used and the broad number of feed ingredients used in the production of feed com- bine to create a challenging environ-

» 51 AQUACULTURE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL

News from the Aquaculture Stewardship Council

China’s Largest Abalone Producer First in Country to Achieve ASC Certification China’s largest abalone producer has also become the first in the country to achieve certification against the ASC Abalone Standard. Fujian China- Singapore Evervest Co., Ltd. (FCSE) celebrated the achievement with a certification ceremony at a national annual abalone symposium held in Rongcheng, Shandong Province. FCSE is based in Lianjiang Coun- ty of Fujian Province, known as the hometown of abalone in China. Over 20 years it has grown into China’s larg- est abalone farming company, and op- erates across the entire supply chain, from breeding and farming, to pro- cessing and sales. China is the world’s Fujian abalone wave resistant rafts. largest producer and consumer of ab- alone, making it an important region The density of abalone has been re- “Abalone is a high-end seafood for efforts to reduce farming impacts duced over time to improve quality that is very popular among the Chi- and improve practices. and working conditions for staff. nese people. Fujian China-Singapore The newly certified farm is located “We aim to provide high quality Evervest is the largest abalone farm- in the waters surrounding Datan Is- abalones to consumers and that’s why ing company in China and the first to land in the East Sea, which enjoys a we want to change the traditional ex- meet ASC standards,” said Fang Qing, number of natural advantages includ- tensive farming practices to the stan- ASC China Country Manager. “This ing moderate salinity and abundant dardized modern approaches to aba- will provide strong support to upgrade dissolved oxygen. FCSE has made a lone farming,” said Wu Yongshou, the the aquatic products for Chinese con- number of innovations, including the chairman of Fujian China-Singapore sumers.” replacement of Styrofoam floating Evervest. “We seek to open up the “China is now vigorously promot- rafts with sturdier wave-resistant al- high-end market through ASC accred- ing the green development of aqua- ternatives, increasing safety and reduc- itation and we also hope that ASC’s culture,” according to Mr. You Wei- ing plastic pollution. They have also high standards and rigorous require- wei, Secretary-General of the Abalone teamed up with Shanghai Ocean Uni- ments will help Chinese abalone farm- Branch of China Aquatic Products versity to develop a traceability system ing companies review and improve Processing and Marketing Association where, feed, marine environment and their practices so as to increase their and an associate professor at Xiamen water quality changes are monitored. sustainability.” University. “Abalone actually has the

52 » natural advantages to become a model species for green aquaculture, due to its farming model and feed composi- tion. The first ASC certificate for re- sponsibly farmed abalone in China will sharpen the competitive edge and strengthen the credibility of the aba- lones produced in China. It will also bring Chinese experiences into the global practices in responsible aqua- culture.”

World’s First ASC Certified Collagen Supplement Launched in Sweden The ASC label isn’t only found on food products, thanks to the many and varied uses of responsibly pro- duced fish. This was further highlighted this weekend with the launch of a new source, ASC certified pangasius by our has become the first producer to ob- skincare supplement in Sweden partner Vinh Hoan to the final prod- tain ASC certification for all of its sea- which is the world’s first ASC certi- uct on the shelf – five gram sachets of bass, seabream, and meagre farms. fied collagen product. the worlds’ first ASC certified finished Cromaris has applied and success- Launched by Inekogruppen at an collagen product.” fully obtained ASC certification for all annual event for the LIFE Europe “The NORDBO Kollagen prod- five of its seabass, seabream and mea- health food store chain in Sweden un- uct is our most exciting launch yet and gre farms, certified by the independent der the brandname NORDBO Kolla- the perfect addition to our ASC-cer- auditor DNV GL Business Assurance gen, the product will go on sale in Life tified Danish trout fish oil product,” Norway. The producer has also at- stores, the biggest health food chain said Emil Andersson, Director of tained Chain of Custody (CoC) certi- in Sweden, Norway and Finland. The Product Development at Inekogrup- fication for its processing facility. CoC product will also be sold at the health pen. “Scandinavian consumers are certification ensures that ASC seafood food chain Hälsokraft, Bodystore. very aware and looking for responsi- is properly handled and kept separate com, Åhléns Lifestyle Stores, and the bly-sourced options in all categories. from non-certified food throughout beauty store Lyko.se. That’s why we are so proud to provide the supply chain from farm to fork. The supplement contains collagen, an option that we think is the most “We are proud to receive the ASC which promotes healthy skin, hair and sustainable as well as the purest.” standard for all our farms. This re- nails. The collagen is sourced from “The variety of ASC certified flects our strategy in terms of devel- ASC certified pangasius and co-devel- products is increasing all of the time, oping sustainable aquaculture of top oped by the Danish company Engre- which is good news for consumers quality and the freshest Mediterranean do ApS. The collagen is derived from who want to promote responsible fish on the market. It is important to the skin of the fish which is removed fish farming with as many of their highlight that we have certified all our as a by-product of the filleting pro- purchases as possible,” said Inger Me- farms – 100% of the production. Our cess. The skin is processed at the same lander, ASC Commercial Marketing strategy is to guarantee these standards facility, before being processed further Manager, Northern Europe. “It’s also to all our customers and consumers. into the finished collagen product by great to see products like this taking All customers working with Cromaris Engredo and sold as NORDBO Kol- advantage of the many different uses can be 100% certain they are going to lagen by Inekogruppen. of farmed fish and ensuring that the get ASC certified fish. This is a prin- “We are very happy to have ob- by-products don’t go to waste.” ciple we follow in implementing all tained our ASC chain of custody cer- our standards as well as with all char- tification, finalizing full supply chain Cromaris Obtains Certification for acteristics of Cromaris branded prod- sustainability and traceability,” said 100% of its Seabass, Seabream ucts” said CEO of Cromaris, Goran Henrik Uth, Director at Engredo ApS. and Meagre Farms Markulin. “This means everything is certified, Cromaris, a leading producer of Medi- “This is an impressive achievement from farming and processing of single terranean white fish based in Croatia, for Cromaris and we’re really pleased

» 53 AQUACULTURE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL

to see their dedication to minimising the environmental and social impacts of their farms,” said Esther Luiten, ASC Commercial Director. “Certify- ing all of their farms against the ASC Seabass, Seabream, and Meagre Stan- dard means even easier choice of re- sponsibly produced fish for their cus- tomers. The ASC Seabass, Seabream and Meagre Standard is still relatively new but we’ve already seen plenty of demand from producers wanting to demonstrate their responsible prac- tices.” Cromaris operate five farms pro- ducing seabass, seabream and meagre, Shrimp Farm in Honduras. located off the Croatian coastline on the Adriatic Sea. Their main market sibly farmed shrimp, thanks to an ASC “ASC certification of all shrimp is is Italy, with strong growth in central commitment from supermarket giant Carrefour’s strong commitment to a European markets including France, Carrefour. major product in our seafood product Germany and Switzerland. The commitment means that offering,” said Gaëtan de Lamberterie, The ASC Seabass, Seabream, and 100% of the farmed shrimp sold in all of Carrefour. “It is fully in line with Meagre Standard was launched in late Carrefour supermarkets’ fishmonger Carrefour’s ambition to become the 2018, and farms were able to arrange counters and chilled seafood aisles is leader in the food transition for all and audits from March this year, follow- now ASC certified. contributes to the company’s com- ing a six month effective period. Many “ASC certified shrimp farmers mitment to provide consumers with farms around the Mediterranean have work hard to ensure they minimise a wide choice of responsible farmed already achieved certification against their environmental and social impacts, and wild-caught certified seafood the new standard, in Turkey, Greece, and by choosing to buy ASC products, products.” Croatia and Albania. consumers can reward this responsi- Carrefour’s commitment will have bility,” said Camille Civel, ASC France a big impact, with the company oper- French Supermarket Giant Outreach Manager. “Now Carrefour ating over 1,000 stores in France. Carrefour Makes ASC Shrimp has given consumers even more op- The Shrimp Standard is one of Commitment portunities to reward responsible ASC’s most widespread, with almost French consumers now have even farming, helping our mission to drive 300 farms around the world currently more choice when it comes to respon- up standards in aquaculture.” certified, producing over 200,000 tons annually. Vietnam has the most ASC certified farms, with Ecuador, Hon- duras and Indonesia also important countries for the programme. The standard contains over 100 requirements dealing with legal, so- cial and environmental issues. These include the protection of mangrove forests and other critical habitats, pro- hibition on the use of antibiotics, fair treatment and pay for farm workers, and being good neighbours to local communities. If you’ve bought some responsi- bly farmed shrimp from Carrefour or elsewhere but aren’t sure what to do with it, you can visit ASC’s recipe page for inspiration.

54 » OUT AND ABOUT Fishing is Growing Old

What fishermen need is a pension program, not subsidies to continue fishing for what is no longer there. By: Salvador Meza *

round the world, over 80% designed to elevate the production of lowing their involvement in productive of fishermen are over 60 fish and seafood, such as the purchase activities other than fish capture in a years old. The industry is of fishing nets, motors or boats, when quick, functional manner. And lastly, the growing old, and the fig- what they should be doing is creating ease with which the fishers become em- Aures indicate that each year a great a pension scheme for this vulnerable ployed in this activity, and the quickness number of people are abandoning group of society, using exchanges and with which they obtain profits, are con- fishing activities. The replenishment social assistance programs. Thus, most ditions which favor this minimal ten- of new workers is called into question. of the resources budgeted by govern- dency to change livelihoods. The work- Of the 40.3 million fishermen in ments to increase the production of ing conditions of the fishers, while not the world today, according to the FAO, fish and seafood could be redirected optimal, do allow them to have a certain 2 million correspond to Latin America, towards the growth of sustainable aqua- margin of discretion and flexibility. and of these, 283 thousand live in Mex- culture, which, according to the FAO, Currently, a family of four is consid- ico. In this country, 54% of fishermen will be the industry that will provide the ered in a situation of income poverty are over 50 years old, and they average world with most of its fish and seafood if their income is below US$25.75 per 63 years of age, which is why only one in the upcoming years. day, in accordance with the US 2019 in 10 is between 16 and 25. In general, for instance, the level of Federal Poverty Guidelines. The fish- When fishing is unable to provide an access fisher-folk have to social security ers’ incomes are not stable and are far adequate and stable income, fishermen in the Latin American region is very low. from the figure proposed by The De- postpone their retirement age, and this In Peru, for example, 94.3% of artisanal partment of Health and Human Ser- allows for the age average among fish- fishermen and women do not pay con- vices of this country. Which is why the ing workers to increase even more. In tributions to any of the available pen- majority of fishermen, without consid- this sense, the future increase in the age sion funds, while in the case of Colom- eration to their advanced age, accept of fishermen is a sign of the environ- bia, this figure goes up to 97%. In Chile, the government subsidies destined to mental, economic and social instability only 8% of the fishermen and women fishing production programs, and thus of fishing communities. On the other registered in the Artisanal Registry have also accept risks they perhaps shouldn’t hand, young people take interest in fish- any affiliation with social security. In the be still taking by going out to sea, when ing only when fish populations are big case of El Salvador, it is estimated that in reality what they need is a pension and stable, and when they see in it an ac- 93% of the people involved in fishing that allows them to lead a dignified life tivity where they can generate an income and aquaculture activities are from the in their old age. and pursue a career. If young people informal sector, and therefore have no What we have here is a mix-up of don’t see a profitable industry in fishing, social security whatsoever. programs which, at the end, are not go- they go seek other opportunities, and To better understand the problem ing to increase the production of fish the age average for the fishing industry presented by the lack of a pension and seafood, plus an omission regard- increases even more. scheme for fishing workers in the world, ing the living conditions of the fisher- In spite of the above, most of the we have to analyze the strong tendency men who have no pension scheme, and world’s governments have paid little or of the latter to continue in this activ- finally a lack of insight because of the no attention to the aging situation of ity. This situation may be explained by failure to invest these subsidies in the the fishing industry. In fact, they con- different factors, one of which is the growth of aquaculture, which would tinue to promise, using redundant re- investment in time these middle-aged indeed generate rural employment for medial actions, justice to the fishermen fishers would have to make in order to a population of young people who cur- with programs to sustain and increase learn a new type of activity, as well as rently have to migrate to the city. fisheries production without having a being accustomed to obtaining income complete picture of the ecological situa- in a short term. Another factor is the Salvador Meza is Editor & Publisher of Aquaculture tion of the promised catches. They hand low level of schooling of the fishing Magazine, and of the Spanish language out budgets and subsidies for programs population, which is an obstacle in al- industry magazine Panorama Acuicola.

» 55 OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE

all sorts of intricate feedback mecha- nisms (the albedo effect of clouds, for Offshore example) and complex compounding factors (methane clathrates bubbling up from the permafrost) that multi- macroalgae ply the uncertainties – or at least, in- crease the opportunities for sowing seeds of uncertainty in the mind of culture my brother-in-law, and other doubt- ers. The fear of global climate change as a balm for the oceans is thus more of a nagging disquiet for most of us. and the planet Ocean acidification, however, is quite simple. No models are needed to explain it; it is a straight-out, straight- By Neil Anthony Sims* up-and-down equilibrium equation.

More CO2 in the atmosphere means more CO2 is absorbed into the ocean. Carbon dioxide’s impacts on the oceans are indisputable, inescapable, This then pushes the ocean’s pH low- and terrifying. Yet there is a disconcerting lack of public panic – or er, down from its current level of 8.2, closer to the acid end of the scale even attention - around ocean acidification. We need to find solutions (towards 7.0). As it falls - even while – fast! it is still not yet acidic - it makes it harder for animals to deposit calcium carbonate shells. At some point, the shells will begin to dissolve. A mea culpa digression: I saw this effect, first-hand, some 30 years ago, but failed to recognize its significance. I was then working at Kona’s Natu- ral Energy Lab for a Japanese-funded pearl oyster project, striving to culture Mikimoto pearls in oysters grown in the OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) deep ocean water. This water, from 2,000 – 3,000 feet deep, is pumped to the surface at around 6 – 8ºC. It is also supersaturated with

CO2, and has a pH around 7.6. By de- Courtesy University of the Sunshine Coast. gassing the deep seawater, and warm- ing it to around 18ºC, we could push have been gently chided, at more correctly being identified – the the pH up to 7.9 or so, but no higher. times, for proposing offshore global climate crisis. Despite the mul- Our poor Pinctada fucata sat there, aquaculture as the cure for all titude of models and deluge of data, struggling to push their shell depos- that ails humanity, our oceans, supposedly well-intentioned, seem- its up over the hurdle of the arago- Iand our planet. OK, I admit it’s not ingly honest scientists can and will nite solubility co-efficient. Their shell quite a cure-all; offshore aquaculture disagree. Even my brother-in-law is a diameters literally grew backwards! can’t fix varicose veins. But there may climate skeptic! Part of the problem They were dissolving before our eyes. be potential for culture of seaweed is that global climate models are really, As the seas start to acidify, the offshore to solve – in some part – this really complex. The models are – as catastrophe that I witnessed at tank- most pressing crisis for our oceans. the adage holds - always wrong, and scale in Kona will be visited upon all There is no universal agreement on sometimes useful, but the only ones the oceans of the world. There will be the causes and the impacts of global that are truly useful are those that re- no escaping it; marine organisms can’t climate change – or rather, as it is now inforce our own biases. There are also migrate around a global shift in ocean

56 » » 57 OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE

Macrocystis canopy, Chile. Photo credit: Alejandro Buschmann.

pH, the way that terrestrial flora and be dipped into our collective public fauna might relocate in response to pocket. Ha! We cannot even get Joe changes in climate. We, our children, and Jane Public to support a gas tax, and our grandchildren stand on the so how are we possibly going to get Ocean acidification is quite brink of bearing witness to a global them to loosen the purse strings to mass-extinction event that would rival fund projects countering ocean acidi- simple. No models are needed that of the Permian-Triassic, when fication? Let’s accept the truth - we to explain it; it is a straight-out, over 96% of all marine species in can’t. the planet were wiped out. Even my I believe that the only viable option straight-up-and down brother-in-law cannot deny these in- is to find some means for harnessing equilibrium equation. More CO evitabilities. entrepreneurial incentives (a.k.a. the 2 So … are you scared, yet? profit motive) to the ecological imper- in the atmosphere means A string of possible solutions have ative, and have businesses solve ocean more CO is absorbed been posited – crush limestone and acidification for us. We need to find 2 dissolve it in the ocean; add iron to a profitable, scalable way to remove into the ocean.

the surface waters to stimulate phy- CO2 from the oceans. toplankton blooms – but none of The simplest way to co-opt CO2 these are practical at any scale, and to embellish a business’ bottom line all of them would be horrendously is through harnessing photosynthesis. expensive, and would require a hand Let’s have the plants do all the work;

58 » we can then reap the harvest. It has (or for chickens, if you must). And to take it offshore. The U.S. Depart- worked on land, pretty well, for feed- the biodigestors producing the SCPs ment of Energy seems to agree. Their ing us for the last 10,000 years or so. could be readily adapted to produce Advanced Research Projects Agency In terrestrial agriculture terminology, methane, or other biofuels, so we can – Energy (ARPA-E) just completed this is called ‘agronomy’. Unlike ag leave more of the ancient other stuff selection for Phase II awards for their on land, offshore seaweed farming in the ground. MARINER Program (Macroalgae doesn’t need forests to be cleared, This is not just your crack-pot cor- Research Inspiring Novel Energy Re- and needs neither fresh water, nor respondent talking. Conservation In- sources), with the long-term goal of (possibly) exogenous nutrients, yet it ternational, The Nature Conservancy, developing culture systems for mac-

literally sucks CO2 out of the sea for and World Wildlife Fund are all work- roalgae for biofuels on offshore ar- us to use or sequester as we see fit. ing on seaweed projects with localized rays, to allow production on the scale Marine agronomy - the culture of ma- nutrient removal, and mitigation of that is truly needed to make an impact rine plants and macroalgae (seaweeds) acidification, as key elements. How- on global energy demands. to produce the food, feeds and fuels ever (and you knew I was going to There is also the tantalizing possi- that we crave – may then be a balm get to this!) to truly scale this, we need bility of using macroalgae as a carbon to counter the coming cataclysm of ocean acidification. OK, outside of your local sushi bar, and Japan/Korea/China, sea- weed isn’t much craved, but that’s just a matter of taste, and tradition. “Sit there and eat your seaweed salad, Johnny, or you won’t get any seaweed icecream!” said no-one’s Mother, ever, as she sipped on her kelp beer. Well, not yet, anyway … but people laughed at vegetarians, once. Seaweeds could also be used di- rectly as feeds for marine fish (many great-tasting coral reef fish are herbi- vores) or cattle (Asparagopsis has been shown to reduce the methane in cow burps by up to 70%). Alternatively, seaweeds could be used as feedstock for producing single-celled proteins (SCPs), which could then become protein powder for body-builders, or feedstuffs for ‘carnivorous’ fish

I believe that the only viable option is to find some means for harnessing entrepreneurial incentives to the ecological imperative, and have businesses solve ocean acidification for us. We need to find a profitable,

scalable way to remove CO2 from the oceans.

Seeded ulva lines for offshore.

» 59 OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE

“Sit there and eat your seaweed salad, Johnny, or you won’t get any seaweed icecream!” said no-one’s Mother, ever, as she sipped on her kelp beer. Well, not yet, anyway…but people laughed at vegetarians, once.

sequestration tool, where the seaweed could be cultured offshore, processed (to remove pigments, carageenans or other products of value) and then the inert equivalent of marine biochar could be dropped to the ocean floor. In 4,000 m deep water, that carbon won’t see sunlight ever again; it will become part of the abyssal “ooze”, and then eventually, some millions of years hence, be pulled down a subduc- tion zone at the edge of the ocean, into the earth’s crust. A couple of re- cent papers have recently shone some light on sequestration of macroalgae – natural or cultured - to the abys- sal plain, and its capacity to mitigate global climate change. The science is sometimes encouraging (48 million sq Sugar kelp harvest - Long Island Sound. Photo credit: Charlie Yarish.

km suitable for seaweed farming), but also always cautious (“Seaweed offset- ting is not the sole solution to climate change”). Beyond the culture technology, and the profitable products (which are both problems solvable by opti- mism), the nutrients (mostly N and P) represent the greatest limitation to offshore macroalgae scalability. There are, conveniently, abundant nutrients in deep seawater. Yes, it was just such deep seawater that dissolved the pearl oyster shells in Kona, but there could be some calculus to determine loca- tions and depths at which nitrogen and phosphorus abundance exceeds Sugar kelp harvest - Long Island Sound. Photo credit: Charlie Yarish.

60 » Sugar kelp longline. Photo credit: Charlie Yarish. the corrosiveness of the carbon. And with the oceans metaphorically awash in “Dead Zones” from eutrophica- tion, there would seem to be possibili- ties to bring these nutrient-enriched waters literally to light. We need to encourage ocean inno- vators and entrepreneurs to find the fundable non-fiction, from among the myriad futuristic proposals and the fanciful plans. And to do this, we need them to understand the scalability of the opportunities that are offered off- shore. We need them to think beyond the blue horizon. Sugar kelp production - Long Island Sound. Photo credit: Charlie Yarish. After all, the “No Action Alterna- tive” is terribly grim … and otherwise inevitable.

Neil Anthony Sims is co-Founder and CEO of Kampachi Farms, LLC, based in Kona, Hawaii, and in La Paz, Mexico. He’s also the founding President of the Ocean Stewards Institute, and sits on the Steering Committee for the Seriola-Cobia Aquaculture Dialogue and the Technical Advisory Group for the WWF-sponsored Aqua- culture Stewardship Council. Courtesy of Aquaculture without Frontiers.

» 61 THE FISHMONGER ers are not aware. And sadly, that is a pathway to marginal business. Seafood Whilst each marketplace is dif- ferent, one thing we are aware of is that we can gauge some perspectives from splitting the consumers into age Consumer groups – baby boomers (born be- tween 1944 and 1964); Gen X (1965- 1979); Millennials (1980 – 1994) and Tendency Gen Z (1995-2015). Each group shows some different tendencies in respect to their purchasing and eat- and the Role of ing of foods. Analysis from many experts enables us to have a greater understanding of such issues. Aquaculture It is complex, and from a mar- keting perspective it can have major repercussions on your brand. The Millennial group has been impact- With most of our world covered by water, why was our planet ever ing food trends over the last 10 years. Millennials are the largest U.S. age de- named Earth? Has this impacted our thinking with the emphasis of mographic, and as such they are key growth being focused on land? Would we have a different perspective tastemakers. Their food preferences are helping determine what you’ll if our planet was called OCEAN? find in retailers and restaurants across the country. Most millennials are in college, starting new jobs, getting married or having kids and currently there are more millennials in the workforce than any other age bracket, and there- fore their consumer choices matter. They are demanding truth from food manufacturers and many large food producers are starting to listen to consumer demands for transparency about ingredients and sources. There are benefits and risks for producers, but clearly change is happening. While there are many positive changes in food and nutrition be- cause of millennials, there is one cau- tionary issue that we need to be aware of. Research has indicated that about 40 percent of millennials say that friends and family are a top source of their nutrition information (only 21 e have discussed pre- form and influence those important percent of boomers give that answer viously in this column people? If you are not connected — they trust doctors and dietitians that the retailer is the with your customer how can you un- more). Millennials rely heavily on window of the indus- derstand the consumer’s feelings to- websites, bloggers and social media try,W yet how many producers know wards your products? fitness professionals for health infor- their retailers that well? And, is that a You are locking yourself into mation. This impacts on increased barrier to understanding more about commodity activity and unable to dif- nutrition myths (like their love of or- the consumer and being able to in- ferentiate your brand if the consum- ganic food), and can be harmful for

62 » » 63 THE FISHMONGER future generations, including their very well-fed babies. “Karen on Facebook” may well have great intentions with her health/ nutritional postings but there is no way to know how trustworthy such information is. This leads to misin- formation and confused messaging, which makes marketing a nightmare. Of course, this is not assisted by NGOs and even aquarium groups trying to have their tuppence worth for their own ‘donate now’ causes, and adds to the muddle. Given that farmed seafood has had public issues with regards to the environment and food safety in the past, misinformation and misconcep- tions have run rampant among con- sumers, adding more fuel to the fire and creating a lack in confidence in campaign to promote seafood con- Negative stories are easy to pro- buying and eating seafood. sumption and it is going to take a mote – the shock/horror headlines These three areas would appear to strong united approach to redress are what the world’s media thrives on be the consumers’ aquaculture per- some of these matters and to win the and this is perpetuated through viral ceptions: war! social media which survives on this 1. Damages the environment; The issue has been further com- negativity. We need to keep promot- 2. Consumes more fish than it pro- plicated by insecure fishermen who ing FACTS and we need to get all duces; and feared their products would no lon- our industry on the same song sheet, 3. Delivers poor quality food that is ger be required as aquaculture prod- along with supporting scientific or unsafe and less nutritious than what ucts came into their markets. government input. we could harvest from the sea. “Everyone is entitled to his/her Doomsayers are already predict- People still use information from own opinion, but not to his/her own ing the end of commercial fishing the past (especially the ‘donate now’ facts” – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, so where will we be if we don’t have groups) to make their cases, which American ambassador, senator and aquaculture? The world’s population again does not assist in the overall presidential advisor. is growing, and we need protein, es- pecially scientifically proven nutri- tional food that we can deliver from our seas and oceans through farm- ing. Sadly, it has recently been report- ed that the Danish Government has announced that it is to put a halt to the development of fish farming at sea in a bid to protect the environ- ment. The move will see an end to the development of any new sea fish farms in the country as well as a curb in growth for existing farms. Den- mark is the eighth largest producer of sea farmed fish in the EU with around 19 sea fish farms currently in existence. The main concern the Danes highlighted in reports were the levels of pollution associated with aqua-

64 » The projected rise in produc- tion may increase global greenhouse emissions. Direct emissions from agriculture, mostly from livestock, as well as rice and synthetic fertilizers, are expected to grow by 0.5 per cent annually over the coming decade. FAO assistant director for general economic and social development, Maximo Torero Cullen, has said the climate challenge requires further emission cuts from the agri-food in- dustry. In order to move forward The Fishmonger promotes that we all make a commitment to work togeth- er to create our global agenda and focus on the important opportunity we have. The strategy should engage with the UN Sustainable Develop- ment Goals so that we have measur- able outcomes. Promotion efforts must focus on: • factual health and wellbeing out- comes for women • encouraging global retail standards • collaborating on benchmarking • building our Corporate Social culture, being the cause of signifi- ics will increase yield. This highlights Responsibility platforms on man- cant criticism in the past. The result- the need for aquaculture to invest in groves/sea grass, plastic alternatives ing concentration of waste from the improved genetics. The outlook also and helping the poor. sector and its impact on the marine shows a global urban population From a corporate perspective, we environment has been widely ques- reaching 60 per cent of the total, up need to invest in our people through tioned, especially concerns about from 55 per cent in 2018. education and development activi- the combination of uneaten food Global trade tensions are also im- ties, invest in quality and technology, pellets and waste which can pollute pacting agricultural investment and eliminate waste and develop a Blue the water, smothering animals and that is not assisted by political uncer- Economy Growth Strategy in con- plants on the seafloor. Other issues tainty, which means that our indus- junction with governments. mentioned relating to aquaculture try cannot rely on the same predict- There are strong messages for include the spread of diseases and ability of sales and will need more individuals, companies and associa- parasites from farmed fish to wild effort in engaging new markets into tions and it will need all of us en- fish. the future. That is why creating trade gaged in order to collaborate much According to the Allied Market corridors to Asia is imperative, with more than we have in order make Research Aquaculture Global Op- over 60% of the world’s middle class a difference and compete in such a portunity Analysis and Industry in that region by 2030 and a culture difficult world of paradox. Forecast, 2014-2022, the aquaculture of eating seafood. market valuation is forecast to reach Resulting preferences for pro- $242 billion by 2022. The OECD and cessed, transportable foods, particu- FAO Agricultural Outlook 2019– larly in the developing world, will see 2028, recently published, predicts demand grow for certain commodi- a 15 per cent increase in worldwide ties. Ninety-eight per cent of pre- consumption and predicts prices for dicted demand will be coming from most commodities will fall by up to 2 the developing regions of Asia and per cent, but technology and genet- Africa. The Fishmonger

» 65 SALMONIDS The significance of sufficient water velocity in salmon cages

Water velocity is of profound impact on metabolism, performance and welfare of salmon and trout. Many reports indicate that higher velocity can boost fish growth due to increased feed intake and improved feed By Asbjørn Bergheim* conversion.

or example, a current water along the coast and in fjords is which are associated with higher wa- speed of 0.4-0.6 BL (body associated with the rise and fall of ter current velocities. length)/s (ca. 20 cm/s) has the tide. Adequate water exchange At cage sites on the Norwegian been shown to result in im- through cages is essential for the re- coast, the current range is typically be- Fproved growth rate and feed utiliza- plenishment of oxygen. To ensure tween zero and 20-30 cm/s from the tion in post-smolt Atlantic salmon the continuous supply of oxygen, surface to 10/20 m depth (Figure 1). compared to 0.2-0.3 BL/s (Arve there should be minimal periods of The average velocity at cage sites was Nilsen, personal communication). slack water. Current conditions are 6 – 8 cm/s which is considered suf- The velocity of water also affects the one of the key criteria for cage site ficient to maintain adequate oxygen behaviour and aggression of the fish selection. Good current scour at the levels under most conditions. Howev- stock as well as their flesh texture. seabed beneath cages reduces the risk er, the current is reduced to some de- Currents normally fluctuate wide- of waste build-up. The Norwegian gree by cage nets, in particular when ly throughout the day, and from day salmon industry is currently expand- fouling causes a reduction of the to day as well. Horizontal motion of ing to more exposed farming sites, mesh openings. Jellyfish blooms may

66 » Figure 1 Current conditions outside at cage farm on the Norwegian coast during a three month period. Monitoring outside the cages (courtesy: Mowi ASA). Some might find the generalization questionable, but most of the time the current velocity in most salmon cages appears to be suboptimal for growth and welfare of the fish stock.

completely clog cage nets and cause ming speed approximates to 1 BL/s The deployment of skirts to reduce mass mortality in cages due to oxygen independent of age and size. The sea lice infestation in salmon cages is depletion and/or cage deformation. so-called critical swimming speed of proving very effective for Scottish and Some might find the generaliza- adult Atlantic salmon, i.e. the highest Norwegian fish farms. Use of tarpau- tion questionable, but most of the swimming speed the fish can maintain lin skirts of 5 – 10 m depth around time the current velocity in most for more than 20 minutes, is found to the cages has been widely implement- salmon cages appears to be subop- be in the range 1.8–2.2 BL/s. ed over the last 5 years. However, the timal for growth and welfare of the When exposed to current, a net use of skirts also results in reduced fish stock. Salmon farms in sheltered cage changes shape by deflection and water flowing through cages, affect- localities rarely experience current deformation, and these deforma- ing the flow patterns and reducing the velocities above 20 cm/s. At such tions increase with increasing cur- oxygen levels in skirted cages. A re- velocities the fish will often form a rent velocity. In a detailed study on duced oxygen concentration of more circular, one way directed uniform a farm site in the Faroe Islands, the than 30% in skirt shielded cages has swimming pattern, possibly as a re- Norwegian research centre SINTEF been reported when compared with sult of individuals actively avoiding estimated a cage volume reduction of open control cages. Several attempts collisions with each other and the 40% at a current of 0.35 cm/s. At the to increase water flow and the supply cage wall. At these sites salmon typi- time of harvest, when the stocking of oxygen in skirted cages are being cally swim at speeds of 0.3–0.9 BL/s, density of the cage was 36 kg/m3, the implemented. Introduction of air-lift with maximum average values of fish density would have increased to pumps lifting oxygen rich deeper wa- 1.9 BL/s (Inst. of Marine Research about 60 kg/m3. It has been report- ter has recently been shown to raise (IMR), Norway, see Figure 2A). ed that average stocking densities in the oxygen level in the upper part of Under natural conditions in open cages greater than 22 kg/m3 for more the cages affected by the surrounding sea, the constant swimming of salm- than 3 months resulted in lower wel- skirts. Injection of pure oxygen for on is associated with a congenital fare indicators than typically seen in longer periods is a more costly strat- migratory tendency and the swim- fish kept at lower densities. egy.

Figure 2 Three observed swimming structures in a cage stocked salmon: A) Circular movements B) Circle and on current, C) Standing on current. The arrows indicate the strength and direction of the water current during the different group structures. Approximate current velocity: A 22 cm/s, B 38 cm/s, C 47 cm/s. Studies performed by IMR (courtesy: Stein Mortensen).

Dr. Asbjørn Bergheim is a consultant at Oxyvision Ltd. in Stavanger. His fields of interest within aquaculture are primarily water quality vs. technology and man- agement in tanks, cages and ponds, among others. [email protected]

» 67 TECHNICAL GURU Lighting in aquaculture facilities

by Amy Stone*

Lighting is generally an afterthought in many facilities but it can make a pretty important impact on production.

hen I was first starting out in the red drum hatchery, we were just using standard Wfluorescent lighting. While we were successful, it’s possible we could have capitalized on better lighting options. Of course, I was doing this work in the mid to late 90’s before the availability of more efficient fix- tures, so I will use that as my excuse. Over the last decade, we have seen several significant advance- ments in lighting. One of the most prevalent is the LED (Light Emit- ting Diode) technology. LED’s al- low a greater variety of spectrum- or color-specific lighting and offer a completely new range of lighting options previously not possible with conventional lighting technologies. This column will discuss the dif- ferent types of lighting and control- lers that are available for use in our industry. From traditional fluores- cent lighting to the more efficient LED, there are several options that are available. Before delving into the types of lighting, it is important to review lighting in general. Lighting can be species and life phase specific. For example, brood stock lighting, in my experience, has been more about the time that the light is on than wave- length and intensity. Larval rearing has been more specific to intensity and in some research, it has been shown that wavelength can also af- fect fish growth.

68 » One of the bigger hurdles in lighting is finding lights that are UL approved in wet conditions. While not every facility requires UL listings, it is common enough that it narrows the available fixtures significantly. In general, the testing mechanisms existing for many lighting options are such that it is hard to guarantee specific “colors” so the most common description for a lamp is its Kelvin output. According to Reef Brite, a lighting manufacturer, the word temperature is impor- tant when discussing Kelvin because it refers to the tem- perature of a theoretical black body or to an emitting body of light in degrees Celsius when heated to a given

Lighting can be species and life phase specific. For example, brood stock lighting, in my experience, has been more about the time that the light is on than wavelength and intensity. Larval rearing has been more specific to intensity and in some research, it has been shown that wavelength can also affect fish growth.

» 69 TECHNICAL GURU temperature. Most of us are famil- as well as wavelengths. Fluorescent iar with an incandescent lamp which lights are available virtually any- has a filament (theoretical black where and can be installed quickly body) made of tungsten. As current with standard outlets and switches. begins to pass through the filament The most common is the T-5 lamp it will begin to heat up. As the num- which is the newer version that ber of electrons (current) passing replaced the T-8 and T-12 lamps. through the filament increases it will Fixtures for these are also avail- One of the bigger hurdles in start to glow, producing light. If you able pretty much anywhere. Spe- lighting is finding lights that are were to measure the temperature of cific Daylight spectrum lamps are the filament and note the color it is commonly available as well. Several UL approved in wet conditions. glowing, you now have a fundamen- brands of these lights allow the While not every facility requires tal idea of how color temperature user to daisy chain the fixtures for (Kelvin) works. easy installation. UL listings, it is common We will cover the three most This style of light is relatively enough that it narrows the common types of lighting in this efficient but has specific disposal column. While there are other op- requirements since they contain a available fixtures significantly. tions available, it seems prudent to small amount of mercury. It also go with the more common options. can lose its wavelength over time so if the wavelength is critical, plan Fluorescent Lights accordingly. Each manufacturer These are the most economical lights has a recommended replacement to purchase on the market, and they timeframe. come in a variety of styles and sizes

70 » At the end of the day, the best possible option is to look at all the options and decide what is most effective for the species and system that needs the lighting.

Metal Halide Lights LED Lights the unit has undergone to prove the These have been in use for many And now on to the latest and greatest technology. The good news is that years. They were, and to a certain fixture in the market. As with all the in most aquaculture applications the extent still are, the most popular latest and greatest gadgetry, one must specific wavelength is not as critical for reliable wavelength and longev- be very careful not to be taken down as it can be in other applications. ity. This style lamp often requires a the garden path of gimmicks. The At the end of the day, the best pretty heavy ballast as well as quite a race for better LED technology has possible option is to look at all the bit of energy. Luckily new electronic been on for over a decade and we are options and decide what is most ef- ballasts are coming into the market, finally seeing some of the low-quality fective for the species and system which are lighter and smaller. materials fall out of the market. that needs the lighting. What works Metal halide lamps work by pass- LED stands for Light Emitting for some facilities may not work in ing an electric arc through vaporized Diode. That said, this technology al- others, so this is one of the items mercury and metal halides. The in- lows the manufacturer to control the that requires a lot of analysis. tensity of the light is determined by wavelength of the fixture by choos- the mix of the metal halides that are ing specific diodes. Really efficient present in the lamp itself. There is and effective LED lamps can be ex- a start-up time required which can tremely expensive. This is especially take several minutes for them to be true if UL listing and large fixture fully lit. As an example, traditional sizes are required. sport field and parking lot lights are One of the biggest advantages to metal halide lamps. LED technology is that it is more fo- Metal halides are most often used cused because the light is only shone in applications where plant or algae in one direction. While the fluores- growth is needed. They are also used cent and metal halide lamps produce in coral and bivalve farms. They light along the entire filament, which have a significant initial investment is round, light from these sources Amy Riedel Stone is President and Owner at Aquatic as well as high operating costs, so that is initially directed away from the Equipment and Design, Inc. She was formerly a Manager at Pentair Aquatic Eco-Systems, and she analysis needs to be done on the ap- target must be reflected down. studied Agriculture at Purdue University. plication to make sure they are ap- The more commercial the fixture, She can be reached at [email protected] propriate. the more expensive and more testing

» 71 THE LONG VIEW Shoot the Rhino

A colleague of mine was addressing a large gathering at World Wildlife Fund and told a story he called, “Shoot the Rhino.” As you could imagine there were gasps from the audience. I don’t know where the story originated and am happy to amend the column to give proper citation, but in summary, it goes like this… By Aaron A. McNevin*

ost of the animals on Earth have perished, there are only three individuals remaining – two male hu- Mmans and a male rhinoceros. All three are in a field seeking the last scraps of natural resources left on the planet when one of the humans finds a single shot breach barrel rifle with one bullet left in it. The ques- tion before these two gentlemen is whether to shoot the rhinoceros or one of themselves. Both men agreed and shot the rhinoceros. Seems almost silly to tell this sto- ry as it is second nature to do what the humans did. But that is the point, it is second nature, it is expected. Obviously, the story didn’t require a decoder to understand the logic. The story is about the unimaginable odds that those seeking to conserve nature are up against. The planet’s flora and fauna need the same natu- ral resources as humans do, so in a world of increasing population and increasing consumption, are we des- tined to shoot the rhino? Sustainable development, or in our context sustainable aquaculture, is the answer, no? This is the balanc- ing of the social, economic and en- vironmental pillars of sustainability to produce a healthy nutritious prod- uct. Yes, the balancing of the pillars – of course! This is where people are lifted out of poverty, the entire community benefits and the natural resources are present in perpetuity. Putting aside the seaweeds and filter

72 » » 73 THE LONG VIEW feeders, which is not insignificant, I struggle in seeing the Jedi-like bal- ancing of these pillars. To be clear, I am using a fairly principled definition of sustain- ability – not the one that is on ev- ery presentation and in every pitch or proposal. This is not to say that there are not incredibly well-run aquaculture operations doing great things for livelihoods, social stabil- ity and environmental conservation, but sustainability is a very high bar and perhaps we should be holding our community to a higher standard. This is not an attempt to increase the height of the ivory tower. On the contrary, this is to increase the rate of advancement in the sector. To be clear, it will be private busi- ness investment that will take us closer to sustainability. All other ef- forts in development are “projects” and by that, I mean subsidized. Of course, businesses don’t all have the desire for sustainability – there are many examples of smash and grab operations that are quick to profit and quick to exit. Investment in long-term scaling, community devel- opment and efficiency are the attri- butes that would differentiate those businesses that intend to persist. The others in the sustainable de- velopment space tend to be making a

living off the inability of businesses tain funding and develop novel ex- to find this balance. There are envi- periments that will increase their ronmentalists pointing to ecological impact factors and publication re- challenges or unsustainable use of cords. There are the academics that The planet’s flora and fauna resources, the social activists seeking observe and report on aquaculture need the same natural better compensation and conditions which can include viewpoints rang- for workers, and grass roots activists ing from “never aquaculture” to resources as humans do, that can be focused on both social “aquaculture can do no harm” as well as the “poverty journalists” that so in a world of increasing and environmental considerations while seeking to protect the stability live the cushy life by describing the population and increasing of local communities. plight of the poor. The development institutions are Then there are the donors – the consumption, are we equally challenged by the many lay- public donors that develop research destined to shoot the rhino? ers of bureaucracy in the form of agendas but are so far removed from safeguards to protect institutional aquaculture that they cannot effec- reputation. There are aquaculture tively evaluate what research is need- research scientists struggling to ob- ed. There are also the private donors

74 » Yet since I have effectively run opens the doors to the balanced pil- out of stakeholders to critique, I lars of sustainability. If everyone is thought I would turn a bit inward a leader, there is no one to do the There is no solution that an – yes, glass houses and such… The needful tasks. There is a greater need institution or organization will more recent ancillary processes and to be part of something and con- efforts by the environmental NGOs tribute all you can to a shared out- reveal that opens the doors has gotten out of hand. It has come, rather than your institution’s to the balanced pillars of slipped away much like the world of best interest. There needs to be a academic research into irrelevancy. I better sense of selflessness, or bet- sustainability. If everyone is a think that Rachel Mutter, from In- ter, “institution-lessness.” I am no leader, there is no one to do trafish, laid it out pretty clearly in expert on sustainable development, her great article on the 2019 Seafood and I don’t believe those that claim the needful tasks. Summit meeting in Bangkok. She de- to be. scribed a sort of fantasy land where I will advocate what I think is in the NGOs were so self-consumed the best interest of environmental in their toolkits and shiny partner- conservation, and I would expect that fund research by esteemed insti- ships and initiatives; they could not someone from the business sector tutions that have little experience in see that the audience they wanted to will argue for what is best for busi- the aquaculture sector. Those same influence was out trying to solve the ness. Other stakeholders will ad- private donors often fund the NGOs problems the NGOs thought they vocate for community stability and engaged in aquaculture, along with had solved. development to alleviate poverty. It the never-ending attempts to coor- To the point – there are many is this range of advocacy, for what dinate amongst NGOs - fundamen- people that have roles and respon- we are good at or skilled at, which tally fostering a thriving industry of sibilities that are beyond their skills. will ultimately tend towards the bal- mediation, consultation and strategy There is no solution that an institu- ance of the pillars of sustainability. development. tion or organization will reveal that Attempting to balance these pillars in one body or one institution will always result in the same outcome – the dead rhino.

Dr. Aaron McNevin directs the aquaculture program at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). He received his MS and PhD from Auburn University in Water and Aquatic Soil Chemistry. Aaron has lived and worked in Indonesia, Thailand and Madagascar and currently manages various projects throughout the develop- ing world. He previously worked as a professor of fisheries science, and is the co-author of the book Aquaculture, Resource Use, and the Environment.

» 75 URNER BARRY TILAPIA, PANGASIUS AND CHANNEL CATFISH UPDATES FROM URNER BARRY

By: Lorin Castiglione, Liz Cuozzo *

Total tilapia imports for July gained 9.8 percent from the previous month. All categories saw increases, however, on a year-to-date basis total imports fell 5.1 percent below 2018 totals.

Pangasius and Channel Catfish Imports of Frozen Channel pound, gaining $0.14 from the previ- Intro Catfish(Ictalurus) Fillets ous month, but falling by $0.24 cents July imports of Pangasius fell by 6.5 Imports of frozen channel catfish fil- when compared to the July 2018 val- percent. Compared to the same lets totaled 727,139 pounds. Imports ue of $2.65. month a year ago, imports fell almost have trended lower all year com- Shipments into the U.S. are report- 54 percent, while on a YTD basis pared to the previous 5-year average. edly delayed as African Swine Fever is 2019 volume tracked 24 percent low- However, July finally peaked above a contributing factor to product stay- er than 2018. Frozen channel catfish that average of 418,547 pounds, by ing domestically within China, with fillet imports increased 49.9 percent 73 percent. On a YTD basis, Janu- this species being a protein substitu- from the previous month. However, ary through June totaled 3.8 million tion for the fallen pork production compared to the same month a year pounds and was the lowest on re- within the country. Because of this, ago, volume was down 20 percent. cord since 2011, which saw 2.6 mil- as well as additional upwards pressure On a YTD basis, 2019 is trending lion pounds for the same timeframe. due to tariffs, pricing is increasing on almost 41.6 percent below the same Shipments in July entered the U.S. all sizes. 2018 timeframe. with a declared value of $2.41 per Imports of Frozen Pangasius (Swai) Fillets July imports of frozen Pangasius fillets fell from the previous month, down 6.5 percent and totaling almost 9.9 million pounds. Despite a slight up- tick, July 2019 was the lowest-volume July since 2009 brought in 8.9 million pounds during the month. Looking at cyclical behavior of total imports, July falls 64.5 percent below the pre- vious 3-year average for the month, which is 26 million pounds. European data runs through June 2019, and it reveals imports fell for the second consecutive month, down 19.2 percent at 11.1 million pounds. On a YTD basis, the U.S. had fallen 18.1 percent while Europe was up

76 » fall, with YTD figures showing a 16.6 percent decline compared to last year. Imports from Honduras, the largest supplier of this commodity to the U.S. market, were 8 percent lower through July compared to the same period last year. Total imports of this commodity were 4.9 percent lower on a YTD basis through July. From a replacement cost basis, as well as the adjustments made to the weighted import price per pound (which in- cludes only the top five suppliers), we found that the July figure of $2.70 decreased $0.07 per pound from the previous month. Replacement prices had fallen month-over-month since April. Some industry contacts report- ed slower sales and softer prices.

Imports of Frozen Tilapia Fillets 11.9 percent compared to the same Imports of Whole-Fish Tilapia Imports of frozen tilapia fillets in timeframe in 2018. Imports of frozen whole fish in- July increased 12.8 percent from the According to data from the US- creased 5.4 percent in July, totaling previous month, totaling 22.2 million DOC, replacement prices for July 8.7 million pounds. Monthly volume pounds. July 2019 import volume was 2019 gained $0.04 per pound from had been increasing month-over- ahead of the previous 3-year average the previous month, recorded at month since March. On a YTD basis, of 20.3 million pounds by 9.6 per- $1.70. Replacement prices have fall- 2019 imports were 0.7 percent above cent, but fell 6 percent below the 10- en month-over-month since Febru- the same 2018 timeframe. Looking at year average of 23.7 million pounds. ary, with July breaking the down- cyclical behavior of import volume, Looking at YTD totals, by July 2019 ward trend. Please consider that the July 2019 was 2.8 percent above the tracked 6.8 percent below 2018 vol- replacement cost we publish from previous 3-year average. umes. Replacement prices fell $0.07 the USDOC is not Delivery Duty in July to $1.62 per pound. This is Paid (DDP); therefore, if we are to Imports of Fresh Tilapia Fillets the lowest replacement price in al- properly assess this cost we must add Imports in July rose 3.7 percent from most 10 years, since October 2009 extra to this price per pound. Prices the previous month but fell 4.2 per- recorded $1.61 per pound. With re- continue to fall within the market, as cent from the same month last year. placement costs falling and wholesale sales are slow with falling demand. Imports from Ecuador continued to prices steady, the ratio of these two numbers adjusted to 1.29. Wholesale prices are currently at an average of $2.08 per pound. YTD weighted replacement costs registered $1.73 for the January to July timeframe, registering the same value from this same time last year. YTD import volume still fell below previous years and was the lowest on record since 2008, when volume was 114.2 million pounds for the same timeframe.

* Liz Cuozzo [email protected] Lorin Castiglione [email protected]

» 77 URNER BARRY Shrimp UPDATES FROM URNER BARRY

By: Jim Kenny, Gary Morrison *

U.S. Imports All Types, By Type For the fifth straight month, July im- ports showed an increase in total vol- ume imported. Shipments to the U.S. in July were 8.1 percent higher com- pared to July 2018, pushing the year- to-date figure into a slight positive of 0.8 percent, the first time in 2019 that that figure was in the green. The trade flows were positive from most of the U.S.’s main part- ners. Increases were seen from India (+8.3%), Indonesia (+2.2%), Ecua- dor (+32.6%), Vietnam (+46.3%) and Mexico (+43.8%). Thailand (-0.4%) and China (-46.2%) shipped less in July compared to last year. The latter continues to battle African Swine Fever, with conservative esti- mates showing a thirty percent loss in hogs for the leading pork con- months for imports from Indone- ing easy peel, were 12.6 percent sumption country. This has led them sia. July shipments were 2.2 percent higher in July than the same month to hold onto and look for all other above last year which continued to last year. The 51-60 count and larg- proteins. shrink the year-to-date gap. Losses er, except for u/15, were all above Increases were seen in all ma- were seen in shell-on (-6.2%) and last July. The 61-70 and o/70 counts jor categories except for cooked, peeled (-2.2%) while cooked drove were lower. a trend from June’s figures as well. gains (+2.1%). Indonesia remains an Replacement values (import $/ Shipments of Headless Shell-On important number two source of im- lb.) for HLSO shrimp continued to increased, which includes easy peel, ported shrimp for the U.S. be disjointed and the market took (+12.6%); peeled (+7.4%), and Ecuador: It was another banner notice. They shot up in the month of breaded (+43.7%) categories. Fewer positive month for imports from July after a one-month decline. The cooked shrimp (-17.6%) were landed. the United States’ third largest trade average for the month was $3.68 per partner. July imports were up 32.6 pound, up $0.06 per pound from the Monthly Import Cycles by percent and reached the double dig- prior month, and $0.14 per pound Country (All Types) its (+12.9%) for the year. This was above last year. India: At nearly 42 percent of shrimp driven again by shell-on (+34.8%) imports for the month of July, and and peeled (+30.7%). Value-Added, Peeled Shrimp more than 2.5 times the next country, Thailand and Vietnam: Month- Imports India remained squarely as the main ly imports for July edged lower for Imports of peeled and deveined trade partner with the United States. Thailand (-0.4%) while volumes shrimp in the month of July in- India shipped 8.3 percent more than from Vietnam (+46.3%) grew at an creased at nearly the exact rate of July of last year, with total year-to- astounding pace. June, at 7.4 percent. Gains in India, date volume at 311 million pounds. Ecuador, Vietnam, Thailand, Mex- Indonesia: There was a small in- Shell-On Shrimp Imports, ico, and now Honduras outpaced crease, but an increase none the less, Cyclical & by Count Size small losses seen from Indonesia extending the positive streak to three Headless Shell-On Imports, includ- (-2.2%).

78 » UB Value-Added Shrimp Index

2016 2017 2018 2019 3 Yr Avg $5.10

$4.90

$4.70

$4.50

$4.30 $ / lb $4.10

$3.90

$3.70

$3.50 jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec

Replacement values (import $/ U.S. Shrimp Supply & Gulf lb.) for peeled shrimp also increased Situation sharply to $3.82 for July. This was Supply concerns are price supportive $0.14 per pound higher than June. throughout the complex. The Na- Cooked (warm water) imports tional Marine Fisheries Service re- were again lower in July, to the tune ported July 2019 landings (all species, of 17.6 percent, with declines noted headless) of 7.037 million lbs. com- from India, Vietnam and Thailand. pared to 7.923 million in July 2018. Only Indonesia showed gains. Bread- The landings for the first half of the ed imports outperformed, with July year were 35.067 million pounds, totals at 43.7 percent higher for the roughly 10.55 million pounds below month. the same period last year.

Cooked, Breaded & Other Shrimp Ecuadorian Shrimp Exports Imports Farmed White: The widespread price Despite some challenges sourcing support gave way as sellers looked to overseas, replacement has been oc- keep product moving through the curring and the market in the U.S. pipeline into a lower demand period. has become increasingly competitive. While weakness was not broad based Movement has remained solid. The there were some sizes and types that average value of all shrimp imports became more vulnerable. There was a in the month of July was $3.77 per willingness to discount where inven- pound; $0.06 higher than June and tory and margin allowed. $0.06 lower than July 2018. Farmed Black Tiger: While most of what we have reported throughout Shrimp Price Timelines; Retail the year remains, there are some new Ads developments that may need closer Retail: Retailers appeared to find attention. Larger black tiger remained shrimp a viable option to feature in strong amid limited offerings. As July, as evidenced by the significant of July some smaller sizes were also increase in buying opportunities from experiencing the same. Mid-counts June. In fact, there were more than 27 were also available. percent more in July than June, and three percent above last year. The av- erage ad price was $7.65 per pound. The economy remained strong in * Jim Kenny [email protected] July, which helped some of the high- Gary Morrison [email protected] er-end proteins, including shrimp.

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T: +1 760 751 5005 JUNE 2020 T: +1 760 751 5005 E: [email protected] WORLD AQUACULTURE 2020 E: [email protected] W: www.was.org Jun. 08 – Jun. 12 W: www.ras-tec.com Singapore, Singapore XV INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON T: +1 760 751 5005 AQUACULTURE NUTRITION E: [email protected] Nov. 13 – Nov. 15 W: www.was.org Yucatán, México T: +1 760 751 5005 E: [email protected] W: www.was.org advertisers Index AERATION EQUIPMENT, PUMPS, FILTERS AND MEASURING EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS INSTRUMENTS, ETC 2ND INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON MARICULTURE...... 57 AQUATIC EQUIPMENT AND DESIGN, INC...... 69 November 7 and 8, 2019. Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. 522 S. HUNT CLUB BLVD, #416, APOPKA, FL 32703. USA. Caracol Science Museum and Aquarium. PANORAMA ACUÍCOLA MAGAZINE Contact: Amy Stone AQUACULTURE AMERICA 2020...... 27 Empresarios No. #135 Int. Piso 7 Oficina 723 T: (407) 717-6174 February 09 – 12, 2020. Honolulu, Hawaii Col. Puerta de Hierro, C.P.45116 Zapopan, Jal. México E-mail: [email protected] T: +1 760 751 5005 Office: +52 (33) 8000 0578 DELTA HYDRONICS LLC...... 39 E: [email protected] Contact 1: Subscriptions T: 727 861 2421 W: www.was.org E-mail: [email protected] www.deltahydro.com AQUACULTURE EUROPE 2019...... 9 Office: +52 (33) 8000 0629 y (33) 8000 0653 FRESH FLO...... 37 October 07 – 10, 2019. Berlin, Germany. Contact 2: Christian Criollos, Sales Manager 3037 Weeden Creek Rd. Sheboygan, WI 53081, USA E: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Contact: Barb Ziegelbauer W: www.aquaeas.eu Contact 3: Claudia Marín, Sales Support Expert T: 800 493 3040 AQUA EXPO 2019 WORLD AQUACULTURE CONFERENCE...... 17 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] October 21- 24, 2019. Guayaquil, Ecuador. Convention Center. www.panoramaacuicola.com www.freshflo.com Contact: Gabriela Nivelo MDM INC...... 19 T: (+593) 4268 3017 ext. 202 AQUAFEED.COM...... 73 T: 1 800 447 8342 E-mail: [email protected] Web portal · Newsletters · Magazine · Conferences · Technical E-mail: [email protected] LACQUA 2019...... 7 Consulting. www.pmdminc.com November 19 - 22, 2019. Herradura Convention Center (Windham). www.aquafeed.com PENTAIR...... INSIDE COVER San José, Costa Rica. URNER BARRY...... 79 USA Tel: +1 (763) 545-1730 E-mail: [email protected] P.O. Box 389 Tom Ride. New Jersey, USA. MEDIA RELATIONS Tel: +1 (763) 656-5580 www.was.org Contact: Steven Valverde. YSI...... 35 GUATEMALA AQUALCULTURE SYNPOSIUM 2020...... 29 T: (732)-575-1967 1700/1725 Brannum Lane-P.O. Box 279, Yellow Springs, OH. 45387,USA. May 07 – 09, 2020. E-mail: [email protected] Contact: Tim Groms. Santo Domingo del Cerro, La Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala. TANKS AND NETWORKING FOR AQUACULTURE T: 937 767 7241, 1800 897 4151 E: [email protected] REEF INDUSTRIES...... 41 E-mail: [email protected] W: www.simposio.acuiculturaypescaenguatemala.com 9209 Almeda Genoa Road Z.C. 7075, Houston, Texas, USA. www.ysi.com INFORMATION SERVICES Contact: Gina Quevedo/Mark Young/ Jeff Garza. ANTIBIOTICS, PROBIOTICS AND FEED ADDITIVES T: Toll Free 1 (800) 231-6074 LALLEMAND ANIMAL NUTRITION...... 23 T: Local (713) 507-4250 Contact: Bernardo Ramírez DVM Basurto. AQUACULTURE MAGAZINE...... 63, INSIDE BACK COVER E-mail: [email protected] / T: (+52) 833 155 8096 Design Publications International Inc. [email protected] / [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] 203 S. St. Mary’s St. Ste. 160 San Antonio, TX 78205, USA www.reefindustries.com www.lallemand.com Office: +210 504 3642 MEGASUPPLY...... ,,,...... 1 Office in Mexico: +52(33) 8000 0578 - Ext: 8578 Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama: Subscriptions: [email protected] T: +504 2-782-6230 Ad Sales. Chris Criollos, Sales Manager Venezuela: [email protected] | Office: +52 33 80007595 T: +58 (212) 235-6680 Cell: +521 33 14660392 Skype: christian.criollos F: +58 (212) 235-7054 Sales Support Expert, Claudia Marín https://www.megasupply.net/ [email protected] | Cell:+521 333 968 8515

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