WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • JUNE 2014 59 Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) is a popular sportfish along the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines from Virginia, USA to northern Mexico. In the 1970s and 1980s, sharp declines in red drum populations led to nearly complete bans on commercial fishing and stricter regulations on recreational harvests. As a result, interest in the culture of this species for the seafood industry and for stock enhancement developed rapidly, and reliable techniques for spawning and rearing red drum in captivity were soon developed (Chamberlain et al. 1990). Since then, worldwide production of red drum has increased steadily, particularly over the past decade, from 2,115 t in 2000 to 67,339 t in 2011 (FAO 2013). A common bottleneck in the successful production of any Dynamics of Arachidonic Acid Transfer from Diet to Eggs in Red Drum Lee A. Fuiman and Cynthia K. Faulk species is a steady supply of high-quality eggs for grow-out. Producing high-quality eggs often requires the inclusion of wild-caught marine organisms in the broodstock diet. However, practicing responsible aquaculture means reducing the use of such feed ingredients and replacing them, at least partially, with more sustainable ingredients, such as agricultural crops. This presents a considerable challenge to broodstock managers, inasmuch as more sustainable feeds typically lack nutrients that are vital for the production of high quality eggs and larvae, including highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs), particularly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6 ω-3), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5ω-3) and arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4ω-6). A common bottleneck in the successful production of any species is a steady supply of highquality eggs for grow-out. Producing high-quality eggs often requires the inclusion of wild-caught marine organisms in the broodstock diet. However, practicing responsible aquaculture means reducing the use of such feed ingredients and replacing them, at least partially, with more sustainable ingredients, such as agricultural crops. ABOVE, FIGURE 1. Eggs of red drum Sciaenops ocellatus are about 1 mm in diameter. At about 17 hours after fertilization, these well-developed embryos have very large yolk sacs and a single oil globule that are their source of essential fatty acids. Photo by C. Faulk. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 60)
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