VOLUME 45, NUMBER 3 THE MAGAZINE OF THE WORLD AQUACULTURE SOCIETY SEPTEMBER 2014 W RLD AQUACULTURE Aquaculture in Mexico
WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2014 1 WORLD AQUACULTURE MAGAZINE WORLD AQUACULTURE magazine is published by the World Aquaculture Society. The home office address is: World Aquaculture Society, 143 J.M. Parker Coliseum, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA. Tel: +1-225-578-3137; Fax: +1-225-578-3493; e-mail: carolm@was.org. World Aquaculture Society Home Page: www.was.org WORLD AQUACULTURE SOCIETY OFFICERS, 2014-2015 Dr. Graham Mair, President Dr. Michael Schwarz, Past President Dr. Rebecca Lochmann, President-Elect Dr. William Daniels, Treasurer Dr. Patricia Abelin, Secretary DIRECTORS Dr. Luis Andre Sampaio Dr. Sandra E. Shumway Francisco S. Gomes Roy Palmer Dr. Zuridah O. Merican Dr. Carole R. Engle CHAPTER REPRESENTATIVES Farshad Shishehchian, Asian Pacific Kathleen Hartman, USAS Antonio Garza de Yta, Latin America and Caribbean Kwang Sik-Choi, Korea HOME OFFICE STAFF Carol Mendoza, Director, carolm@was.org Judy E. Andrasko, Assistant Director, JudyA@was.org WORLD AQUACULTURE EDITORIAL STAFF John Hargreaves, Editor-in-Chief Mary Nickum, Editor Linda Noble, Layout Editor WAS CONFERENCES AND SALES John Cooksey, Director of Conferences and Sales World Aquaculture Conference Management P.O. Box 2302, Valley Center, CA 92082 Tel: +1-760-751-5005; Fax: +1-760-751-5003 e-mail: worldaqua@aol.com MANUSCRIPTS AND CORRESPONDENCE: Submit manuscripts as Microsoft Word files to Mary Nickum, Editor, World Aquaculture magazine. E-mail: mjnickum@gmail.com. Letters to the Editor or other comments should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief, John Hargreaves at jhargreaves@was.org. WORLD AQUACULTURE (ISSN Number 1041-5602) is published quarterly by the World Aquaculture Society, 143 J.M. Parker Coliseum, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 USA. Library subscriptions are $50 annually for United States addresses, and $65 annually for addresses outside the United States. Individual subscriptions are a benefit of membership in the World Aquaculture Society. Annual membership dues: Students, $45; Individuals, $65; Corporations (for-profit), $255; Sustaining, $105 (individuals or non-profits); Lifetime (individuals), $1,100; E-Membership, $10 (no publications, meeting discounts and not an active member in last five years). Periodicals Postage paid at Baton Rouge, Louisiana and additional mailing offices. Twenty-five percent of dues is designated for a subscription to World Aquaculture magazine. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the World Aquaculture Society, 143 J.M. Parker Coliseum, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 USA. ©2014, The World Aquaculture Society. ■ W RLD AQUACULTURE VOL. 45 NO. 3 SEPTEMBER 2014 Cover: Catfish production in Lake Chapala. 7 Status and Challenges of Mexican Aquaculture 9 Climate Change Sessions Increasingly Prominent at Aquaculture Meetings 12 Trygve Gjedrem Receives Honorary Life Award from WAS 13 Student Awards at World Aquaculture 2014 14 Three New WAS Fellows Presented in Adelaide 16 WA2014 in Adelaide a Success 17 In Memoriam: Douglas Drennan (1962-2014) 20 Setting the Bar for Food Production: Is Aquaculture the Model for How Protein Should Be Farmed? Jose R. Villalon 24 Protecting Aquaculture’s Freedom to Operate Requires Trust-Building Transparency Charlie Arnot 29 Controlled Maturation and Spawning of Captive Black Snook Matthew J. Resley, Michael Nystrom, Carlos Yanes-Roca, Kenneth M. Leber and Kevan L. Main 37 Effect of Body Size on Swim Bladder Inflation in Intensively Cultured Eurasian Perch Larvae from Different Locations Aleksey Pimakhin and Jakub Zák 43 Sustainable Hatchery Production of Clownfishes in Lakshadweep Islands, India M. Gopi, Sibi. T. Baby, Sherine Sonia Cubelio 46 Polyculture with Carp, Nutrient-rich Small Fish and Prawn Sunila Rai, Shakuntala H. Thilsted, Madhav K. Shrestha, Md. Abdul Wahab and Mahesh C. Gupta 52 Biological Characteristics of the Oyster Crassostrea lugubris in Central Coastal Vietnam Cao Van Nguyen, Nguyen Tac An and Ho Van The 56 Cage Farming in an Indian Reservoir A. K. Das, D. K. Meena and A. P. Sharma 61 Pond Renovation: A Brief Overview Forrest Wynne 64 Improvement of Diets for Alligator Aquaculture Robert C. Reigh and Millie B. Williams 66 Effect of Dietary Administration of the Herbal Additive Phyllanthus niruri on Growth Performance and Hematological Changes in Striped Snakehead M.A. Haniffa and I. Viji Margaret (CONTENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 2)
2 SEPTEMBER 2014 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG President’s Column I am very proud to introduce myself as President of WAS, in this my first column. For those who don’t know me, I am currently a senior aquaculture R&D manager serving as Program Manager for Seafood Production Innovation with the Australian Seafood Cooperative Research Centre. I hope that many of you were among the 2000+ that availed themselves of the opportunity to visit my hometown of Adelaide for World Aquaculture 2014 and that you enjoyed some good Aussie hospitality. It was very exciting to have World Aquaculture come to my own doorstep, although I have to say that I was not entirely sad when it was all over. Now that the dust has settled on what was another successful meeting — and I would like to take this opportunity personally thank all those that contributed to making it happen — we can now return to the serious business of addressing some of the challenges and opportunities that we face as a professional society in an era of a rapidly changing knowledge economy. The Value Proposition of WAS Membership Most of you reading World Aquaculture will already be members of the Society and will understand why you have joined WAS and know whether or not you will continue as a member in the short to medium term. Membership of the Society remains stable at ~2,000+ which is made up of a large core of long-term members and a smaller cohort of transient members who come and go, often centered around participation in conferences. This membership level stubbornly refuses to grow, despite continued growth in global aquaculture and the services that support it, which continue to expand apace. This issue has been of concern to the Board for some years now. We know that our conferences continue to be popular and are at the core of our role as a modern-day knowledge broker. A number of initiatives have been rolled out over recent years and we have improved some of our products, not least this magazine. So why aren’t we growing, and in particular, why are we not growing membership in the major geographic areas of aquaculture growth outside of the regions where we have strong core membership? A tool I like to use to address a question such as this is to try to analyze the Value Proposition of WAS membership. Here I am treating the Value Proposition as something quite specific, a term that very concisely outlines the key features of WAS membership, a positioning statement that explains what benefits we provide, for who and how we do it uniquely well. The key elements of a value proposition are: • What products or services do we provide? • What is the benefit of this product or service to our members? • Who is the target customer for these products or services? • What makes our offering unique and different? The fact that we are not growing our membership indicates that one or more elements of our value proposition are off target or simply that we are not communicating our value proposition effectively. In regions such as North America, parts of Europe and to a lesser extent Australia, where our core membership is strong (e.g. we normally retain around 1,000 members in North America), there is a tradition of joining professional societies and people join for a number of reasons. Professional societies generally offer access to professional development, public policy influence, leadership development, networking, jobs, personal recognition, marketing and development. Certainly WAS offers most of these elements to a greater or lesser degree, through a range of media. It is very important that we maintain and even improve on the services we provide to these existing core members, but our bigger challenge is that the regions with the greatest potential for significant growth do not have this tradition of professional society membership or that members join for different reasons. I see it as a major responsibility of our Board to critically examine the elements of our value proposition, most particularly to understand what aquaculture professionals in the regions that are underrepresented in our Society want, need and expect from a modern day professional society such as WAS. Enhancing this understanding should enable us to expand, adapt, modify and communicate our value proposition in such a way as to increase our relevance, or the understanding of that relevance, to attract more members. Contents (continued) Society 2 President’s Column 3 Editor’s Note 4 USAS Report 5 Latin American and Caribbean Chapter Report 5 Asian Pacific Chapter Report 70 Conference Calendar 71 Future Conferences and Expositions 72 Advertisers’ Index 72 Membership Application (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)
WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2014 3 Editor’s Note Recent revelations about the use of slave labor on Thai fishing trawlers sent shock waves through the seafood world. The Guardian reported in June that fishmeal produced from a trawl fishery were being used in aquafeeds for shrimp produced by CP foods, the giant Thai food conglomerate. CP is a “4 Star Production Group,” the highest level in the BAP certification program supported by the GAA. The situation has elevated the reputational risk of major seafood buyers (Wal-Mart, Costco, Tesco, etc.) that source seafood from CP Foods. For some consumers, this may represent a breach of trust in their perception of what a certification system should do. There may be increased skepticism in consumer attitudes towards seafood certification systems as another example of greenwashing. Responsible sourcing of ingredients is a fundamental principle of feed mill certifications. In a press release from the GAA, the argument was made that the boundary of the certification system does not extend to the capture fishery used to produce the fishmeal for shrimp aquafeeds. Although it doesn’t encompass the fishery now, maybe it should. In addition, in the interest of transparency and accountability, the GAA might consider public release of audits of the four CP feed mills as well as the two owned by Thai Union. The social dimension of sustainability has always been the third priority relative to the attention dedicated to economic and environmental dimensions. Social components of certification systems typically include conformance with basic labor laws and consideration of other worker rights, including fair wages and worker safety, use of underage workers and freedom of association, among others. The ASC identifies this as a principle of “being socially responsible.” The social dimension is also often described in terms of community relations or engagement, in recognition that aquaculture farms and facilities are embedded in a local context. In certification systems, this area includes considerations about access to resources such as public land and fishing grounds. At the WAS meeting in Adelaide, Carla Leversedge, of the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) (www.iap2.org.au), defined public participation as “any process that involves the public in problemsolving or decision-making and that uses public input to make better decisions.” She also described the process as “managing outrage.” The IAP2 has developed a set of broadly applicable core values and a code of ethics for public participation. The values include the seemingly self-evident statement that “those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decisionmaking process” and that this involvement is meaningful in terms of influencing the decision. The code of ethics include a statement about trust, an issue that emerged repeatedly in different contexts at the conference in Adelaide. Public participation should build trust among stakeholders and credibility of the process. IAP2’s Spectrum of Public Participation describes different levels of legitimate public participation with an increasing level of public impact ranging from inform, consult, involve, collaborate and empower. There are numerous ethical concerns related to aquaculture in local or global communities. Leaving aside ethical concerns related to ecosystem sustainability, fish welfare and food safety, the main ethical issues for producers are related to adequate income and working conditions (wellbeing), the freedom to adopt certain technologies or practices (autonomy), and fairness in trade (justice). Conflicts over sites (“colliding interests”) is also an issue related to the ethical principle of justice and fairness. With the seemingly pervasive not-in-my-backyard attitude of the public towards aquaculture, at least in many developed countries, and revelations such as that reported by the Guardian, social considerations seem to be coming to the fore and will require more attention than previously received. — John A. Hargreaves, Editor-in-Chief New Report Links Aquaculture and Poverty Reduction WorldFish working together with the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies has exposed evidence of aquaculture’s link to poverty reduction in a new report. Data gathered over a ten-year period provides important evidence for the need to invest in the sector as a way to alleviate global poverty and hunger. By analyzing changes in fish consumption in Bangladesh between 2000 and 2010, the report proves conclusively that growth in aquaculture has led to greater fish consumption among the poorest consumers in Bangladesh. While it had previously been considered that the benefits of the growth in aquaculture were derived mainly from increased employment, the study demonstrates a stronger link to the health benefits of eating more fish. The peer-reviewed paper published in the academic journal World Development provides proof of the long suspected link between aquaculture and poverty reduction for the first time. However the paper also underlines the importance of capture fisheries, which are in sharp decline, and the need to promote an enabling environment for both sectors. Is Aquaculture Pro-Poor? Empirical Evidence of Impacts on Fish Consumption in Bangladesh co-authored by Kazi Ali Toufique of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and Ben Belton of WorldFish also observes that while aquaculture has reduced prices and increased availability of fish, wild capture fish supply has diminished. Given that more than 70 percent of rural households rely to some extent on wild capture, this is an important factor. If it had been possible to slow the decline in capture fisheries in parallel to increased aquaculture production, the authors say, the pro-poor impact would have been more pronounced. While increases in aquaculture production have been sufficient to offset any loss, they conclude that policies are needed that support both sectors in parallel. Note: This article is based on a press release from WorldFish. Concern for Social Sustainability on the Rise
4 SEPTEMBER 2014 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG CHAPTER REPORTS U.S. Aquaculture Society Thank you for the opportunity to represent USAS and continued thanks to the current USAS Board members. August 2014 marks the halfway point of my term as Chapter President — I cannot believe it is already half over! Lots of work still to do. Mike Denson (USAS President-Elect) and I went to the WAS board meeting and conference in Adelaide, Australia in early June. At those meetings, USAS received support for our efforts to increase student awards, both for the number of awards available and the value of each award. We also received approval to present to the membership proposed language changes to the bylaws regarding student subunits. The proposed changes will allow student subunits to include secondary-level academic institutions (such as high schools) and not be restricted to college or universities. The membership will have the opportunity to vote on these changes later this year. I am excited to announce that USAS has been successful in getting several new corporate sponsors for student awards. Students will see a significant difference in the value of the awards that USAS offers and also additional opportunities to compete for other awards outside of USAS. Students, please remember, for many of these awards you must be a USAS member when your abstract is submitted. Confirm your membership status now! Many thanks to our student award sponsors, both old and new — including Tyson Foods, Alltech, Soy Aquaculture Alliance, American Fisheries Society-Fish Culture Section, Drs. Timmons and Ebeling, Pentair, Merck, Aqualogic, Sea Grant Association and Techniplast. All of you have made achieving one of our goals (increasing student awards) for this year possible! Thank you. The USAS Board and committees will continue to work on some of our other goals, such as improving the USAS website (www.was.org/USAS), developing board position descriptions and drafting a new five-year strategic plan. As a reminder, USAS is seeking nominations for officers and board members. We need nominations for President-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer as well as two Members-at-Large. Nominees must be USAS members in good standing. If you would like I hope to be able to come back to this issue in a later column with a critical examination of the elements of our value proposition and how we might adapt it. However, in the meantime, I would appreciate receiving feedback from members and non-members alike on the value that WAS represents for you and how we might improve that value proposition to increase the relevance of the Society for you (graham.mair@seafoodcrc.com). Nonetheless, we will not be waiting for the results of such an analysis before enacting change in the Society. Two critical decisions that will impact on key elements of our value proposition were finalized at our Board meetings in Adelaide in June. Reinvigorating JWAS First was the decision to re-invigorate the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society in an attempt to attract more high-quality papers and to enhance the international reputation of the journal, including improving its impact factor. This is in response to a clear message we received from the results of a recent survey of the membership that the journal is important to you and that it should not only be retained but adapted and improved. The Publications Committee, led by Carole Engle, is already hard at work on this task and we are currently conducting a worldwide search for an Executive Editor who will have an expanded role compared to that of the previous Editor-in-Chief (EIC). The Board extends its gratitude to Carl Webster, who has held this EIC role for the past 7+ years and will be stepping down as soon as we can put the new editor in place. A testament to Carl’s dedication to the journal is that he continues in an interim EIC role even though he has already moved on to his new job. The new Executive Editor will take on the exciting challenge of repositioning the journal and delivering a quality product for our members. An article in a future issue will cover more detail on the direction this re-invigoration is taking. Chapter Home Offices The second initiative is the formation of Chapter Home Offices for our two largest Chapters, the Latin America and Caribbean Chapter and the Asian Pacific Chapter. This will involve the establishment of physical offices in these two regions and the appointment of Chapter executive officers to support the activities of these two vibrant chapters and to enhance communication with Chapter members. These offices are currently being established and members of these two Chapters will soon be hearing from their new executive officers. I see this development as a critical step in understanding and improving our value proposition for our members in these two regions and I am excited by the growth and enhanced dynamism within these two Chapters in particular. In closing, I would like to note that the APC is currently running elections for new members of its Board including the next President-Elect. I am impressed by the quality and geographic diversity of the slate and I encourage all APC members to have their say in shaping the next APC Board, which will continue to grow the importance of this Chapter. I look forward to reporting back on some of the progress on the aforementioned issues in future columns. — Graham Mair, President President, continued from page 2 (CONTINUED ON PAGE 72)
WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2014 5 CHAPTER REPORTS Last year, farmed shrimp production in Asia and around the world suffered significantly from EMS. This year, supplies during the second quarter of 2014 still remained low due to continued EMS, white feces and white spot syndrome virus during June and July. However, demand from global markets is not growing much, making farmers less enthusiastic about stocking ponds. In Thailand, this year’s farmed shrimp production may increase to 400,000 t, considerably more than the earlier forecast of 300,000 t. Despite these predictions, harvests during the first half of 2014 have been only been about 100,000 t. Ex-farm prices during June to July seem to be increasing but farmers continue facing EMS. Moreover, early heavy rains in some areas resulted in delayed pond stocking, a shortage of PLs and slow shrimp growth. Given these factors, the next peak production in Thailand may start in September. The weakening of shrimp prices in the USA is surely a negative development for shrimp farmers in Thailand as well as elsewhere in Asia. In the region, India and Indonesia are the most successful among other countries with the best production and largest culture area. I am planning to organize a few workshops and seminars related to EMS and farm management in some locations. Farm management and good practices are very important to improve shrimp production in EMS-affected countries. These workshops and seminars would mostly be in Indonesia, India, Thailand and Vietnam. We are working on getting our chapter website set up and we are evaluating several website update proposals and working with the WAS Home office to make this a reality. We are looking for expressions of interest to host the new Home Office for the APC and are also looking for a full-time Executive Officer for the chapter. We want to fill this position with the right candidate. Also we are working on the election for several APC Board positions, including Presidentelect and one new Director. The preparation for 2015 Korea and 2016 Indonesia meetings are now underway. WA2015 (which is also the Korean and APC Chapter annual meeting event) in Jeju, Korea, is just around the corner, relatively speaking, and people should start planning travel and hotel arrangements now. I hope we will have very good show, with a lot of participants. APA2016 will be in Surabaya, Indonesia in May 2016; one of the organizers, Dr. Endhay, is now on the APC Board. — Farshad Shishehchian, President Time has flown by very fast this year. It seems like only yesterday when we were celebrating our first LACQUA event in Colombia and now LACQUA 14 in Guadalajara, Mexico is right around the corner! The Latin American and Caribbean Chapter of the World Aquaculture Society (LACC-WAS) has been very active in the past few months and has put together, in coordination with our partners at Panorama Acuícola, an incredible roster of keynote speakers and presenters that will surely set a new standard for aquaculture conferences in the region. Remember, you can submit an abstract for poster or oral presentations in Spanish, Portuguese or English. The three languages will be considered official for this historical event. About this last topic, many people have contacted me about why abstracts will be accepted in Spanish or Portuguese. It has been said on repeated occasions that English is the scientific language and that it should be the only language accepted as official for WAS events. However, the answer is the same that we have been giving since we started working together. In our region, which is Latin America and the Caribbean, producers do not speak English. We cannot keep visualizing LACC-WAS as an isolated academic-only organization; this will lead to extinction. To be successful in the years to come, LACC-WAS must have a different approach. We need to be the catalyst that brings together academia, government and producers. It is my vision and that of the current board that the only way we will be able to build a strong aquaculture sector is by having representatives of these three groups working together and cooperating with each other. We are the ones that need to set the example and we will because that approach is the only way to succeed. One of the sessions that will be outstanding during LACQUA 14 is on marine aquaculture, in which our friends Dan Benetti, Michael Schwarz and Don Kent will share their latest work with some of the most visionary private investors and culturists of marine finfish in cages in the world. I am sure Lorenzo Juarez, PresidentElect and Session Chair, will have his hands full coordinating one of the hottest topics in the food production sector in the world. I can see many people coming just to attend this extraordinary session. So, do not forget to make your reservations in advance because, although Guadalajara is a big city with excellent infrastructure, from 4-7 November it will be the world capital of aquaculture. I will see you in the beautiful eastern pearl of Mexico and, as a recommendation, plan to stay a couple of extra days to visit the tequila factories, the beauty of Guadalajara City, Puerto Vallarta or any of the Mexican beaches or archeological sites that will warmly welcome you. Until then. — Antonio Garza de Yta, President Latin American and Caribbean Chapter Asian Pacific Chapter
6 SEPTEMBER 2014 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG Master Conferences - Tradeshow - Business Rounds All info on: www. fiacui.com www.panoramaacuicola.com www.was.org www.marevent.com - info@marevent.com
WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2014 7 In Mexico, food is a priority issue. On one hand there is a malnutrition problem prevailing in the extremely poor segment of the population, on the other there is a huge obesity problem. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has named Mexico the most obese country in the world, with the incidence of obesity over 30 percent, with 80 million Mexicans being overweight or obese. This situation could be partially offset by a substantial increase in the consumption of fish and shellfish that, unlike other plant and animal products, are the main source of omega-3 fatty acids. This means their consumption contributes to reduce the risk of problems associated with obesity, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Mexico has a vast territorial sea, with the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Due to its varied climate and diverse geography, the country has the potential to grow many species of fish, shellfish and crustaceans. Aquaculture is one of the activities with great potential in Mexico because it brings social and economic benefits and constitutes a source of nutritious, low-cost food for the population. However, this development has been and continues to be inadequate, as about 80 percent of the crops in the country are produced extensively and have low production performance. Freshwater aquaculture is the most developed sector, along with a few marine species. There is greater development of exotic species compared to native species. Tilapia is among the most successful extensively produced Status and Challenges of MEXICAN AQUACULTURE crops, representing about 60 percent of national production. It has been introduced to several water bodies in many parts of the country and there is a large market demand for this species. A substantial increase in tilapia production in Mexico is anticipated, with 20,000 tons projected by 2020. The main cultured species is shrimp and its importance is huge in terms of economic value, especially in the northwest part of the country, where brown shrimp Penaeus californiensis and white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei are produced using sophisticated techniques and have become export-quality products. Aquaculture of shellfish has also evolved, with success in the culture of mussels, abalone and oysters. There is an enormous potential for shellfish aquaculture, particularly of oysters (currently at 4,000 tons/year). Research and experimental cultures of other molluscan species have been attempted, mainly on clams, scallops, lion’s paw and mother of pearl. Mexico also has high potential for marine fish farming because of the diversity of existing species and the preference of consumers for marine species. International Context In recent years, globalization, population growth and climate change have promoted the development of aquaculture. Such growth is considered in the National Development Plan (PND), which elaborates the conditions necessary for Mexico to be at the forefront LEFT. Tilapia production in Mexico. RIGHT. Dead shrimp from an EMS outbreak in 2013. Extensive shrimp production in Sonora. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)
8 SEPTEMBER 2014 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG of international biotechnology for aquaculture. The PND states that Mexico must develop new technologies applicable to commercial crops. To do so, the Mexican government has signed international agreements, most notably the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UNFCCCs Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the UN Millennium Development Goals. Signing these agreements is intended to make Mexico an active participant in the sustainable development of new technologies for commercial crops. This implies an increase in the competitiveness of the Mexican economy, including the aquaculture sector. Technical and Market Challenges for Mexican Aquaculture Shrimp is the main aquaculture sector in Mexico, with a production record of 150,000 tons in 2009, although production is subject to large variation from the threats of massive crop losses from diseases and competition with shrimp produced in Asia. In 2013, total production was only 20,000 tons because of EMS. The most common diseases faced by shrimp production are White Spot Syndrome Virus, Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus, Taura Syndrome Virus and Yellow Head Virus. Recently, Mexican crops faced a massive outbreak of the Early Mortality Syndrome, also known as Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Syndrome. While information on viruses is abundant, there is much to learn about their molecular biology, infection mechanisms, transmission, origin and evolution. In Mexico, the presence of some of these viruses has affected the shrimp farming industry and effects on natural populations have not yet been evaluated. In this context, an alliance among the production sector, government and academia is vital to mitigate the effects of diseases and to support certification schemes for eco-efficient production and thus achieve greater market competitiveness. Another important challenge for aquaculture in Mexico is to reduce the current dependence on imported seafood products, mainly produced in Asian aquaculture. Today, more than 45,000 tons of tilapia are imported annually, mainly from China, with about MXN$1,500 billion (USD$113 billion) going to foreign producers, simply because domestic production is not sufficient to meet market demand. The same effect occurs with other species, such as basa catfish imported from Vietnam. To obtain high quality products for human consumption, it is necessary to apply Best Farming Practices, along with a rigorous monitoring that would allow producers to certify their products in terms of health and safety. Aquaculture must avoid negative impacts on ecosystems, other productive activities and socioeconomic conditions, hence the importance of correspondence between aquaculture development programs and benefits for the population of each region. Research Aquaculture research programs are concentrated in three key government institutions and public centers, namely the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Centers of the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT). These programs focus on research for the development and improvement of culture technologies to boost production of species with high nutritional value at affordable prices. So far there are several lines of research conducted in these research centers and, according to the Fisheries and Aquaculture Rector Plan, priorities are aquaculture of crustaceans, shellfish and finfish. Research lines focus on the development of live feeds, optimal environmental conditions, and the reduction of stress on crops to increase larval survival. There are experimental laboratories for research in areas such as nutrition, breeding, health and pathology, physiology, reproduction and development of aqua-technologies. Mexican academic graduate programs are among the most important in Latin America in terms of personnel training and the country ranks among the best in the world in research of commercially important species, competing with countries such as Australia, Chile, France and the USA. Mexico offers graduate degree programs that support students with scholarships and research stays around the world. This promotes inter-institutional collaboration to develop and apply aquaculture research programs that optimize natural resources and organize the available current infrastructure and human and financial resources. Need for Collaboration Aside from technical aspects, the lack of linkages in current aquaculture programs has promoted an empirical growth of the industry. This has caused severe problems when adapting existing technologies, thus causing high costs and delaying the fulfillment of national goals. There is a great lack of biotechnologies for the development of native species, which highlights the need to establish coordination mechanisms for breeding programs and for the management of resources. The limited contact between academia and producers has led to a steady loss of resources, with consequent delays and duplication of efforts, resulting in a disparity and inconsistency of results. Therefore, there is a great need for reorganization to maximize efforts, with effective mechanisms that interlink social, public and private entities. This would gather current knowledge and potential developments and allow appropriate and optimal planning of research required for the development of Mexican aquaculture in the short, medium and long term. Editors Note: This article was submitted by the staff of Panorama Acuícola magazine in promotion of the upcoming LACQUA meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico. More information on aquacultural practices in Mexico and Latin America can be found at www.panoramaacuicola.com. In Mexico, food is a priority issue. On one hand there is a malnutrition problem prevailing in the extremely poor segment of the population, on the other there is a huge obesity problem.
WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2014 9 (CONTINUED ON PAGE 10) Climate change and aquaculture issues are becoming increasingly prominent at recent aquaculture organization meetings. This past June, the World Aquaculture Society (WAS) and the Aquaculture Association of Canada (AAC) co-hosted a Special Symposium on Climate Change and Aquaculture at Aquaculture Canada 2014. Less than a week later, the session Climate Change Ready-Management Strategies for the Future was held at World Aquaculture 2014 in Adelaide. These sessions provided some excellent and at times sobering presentations. For those who did not attend and wish to stay abreast, some session highlights are detailed below. Special Symposium on Climate Change at Aquaculture Canada 2014 Aquaculture Canada 2014 was held in the seaside town of St. Andrews, New Brunswick, the first week of June. The symposium plenary speaker, Dr. Keith Brander, was a lead author on Working Reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and consequently awarded a share of the Nobel Peace Prize for the 4th report in 2007. In his talk, Dr. Brander reviewed the latest IPCC working report (that became available in October 2013) and contextualized the findings for aquaculture and fisheries. He discussed such influences as extreme weather events, disease spread, rising seas and effects on growth rates. Brander stated that preparation for and adaptation to climate change needs to be considered at all time-scales, from short-term forecasting to longterm strategic planning by industry. In the follow-up discussion Brander emphasized the following message: climate change is happening now, it is manmade, and it is bad, but there is something we can do about it. Gregor Reid discussed the need to revisit temperature effects on aquaculture in light of pending climate change. If temperature alone is considered, a Thermal Growth Coefficient model suggests Atlantic salmon in Atlantic Canada will reach market size two months quicker with an average temperature increase of 1 C. However, Reid says that this is not realistic, with many confounding temperature effects, ranging from reproductive to disease influences, and these effects will occur in consort. There are likely too many unknowns to assume reliable growth prediction under increasing temperatures. The recent workshop Climate Change and Aquaculture in Atlantic Canada, hosted by The Prince Edward Island (PEI) Aquaculture Alliance in partnership with the University of PEI Climate Change Lab, was summarized by Peter Warris. The workshop, held in March 2014, included presentations from industry, academia and government on climatic changes in Atlantic Canada, potential impacts on aquaculture (shellfish health, invasive Climate Change Sessions Increasingly Prominent at Aquaculture Meetings Gregor K. Reid and Timothy Jackson
10 SEPTEMBER 2014 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG species, etc.) and the infrastructure adaptations necessary to accommodate anticipated impacts. Further to the UPEI Climate Change Lab workshop summarized by Warris, the Institute’s Director, Adam Fenech, also presented some of the Lab’s recent research, including Atlantic regional maps detailing anticipated changes in temperature and precipitation based on the most recent science. Improvements in model projections of future scenarios in Atlantic Canada were presented. Fenech later emphasized in group discussion that the Australian advance warning model, which provides up to months-in-advance warning of extreme water temperatures for fish farmers (referred to earlier by Brander) is viable in that region due to their ocean-driven climate, but this is not the case in Atlantic Canada. Presentations by Lara Cooper and Ronald Pelot highlighted some of the Canadian federal government climate change research initiatives. Cooper reviewed the climate change research priorities for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, identified through the Aquatic Climate Change Adaptation Services Program and described ongoing aquaculture research projects. Pelot introduced projects from the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network of Centres of Excellence. The network consists of Canadian engineers and natural and social scientists aiming to reduce vulnerability to marine hazards and emergencies. Sarah Stewart-Clark and Scott Applebaum presented research on the genetic implications of environmental stressors on oysters. Stewart-Clark and colleagues applied transcriptomic analysis to study the eastern oyster, identifying stress mediated gene expression and novel stress biomarkers, with the research identifying substantial potential for climate change to suppress oyster immune systems. Applebaum presented ongoing research to determine if Pacific oyster populations had enough adaptive resilience to climate change as a means to guide the selection of genotypes best suited for aquaculture in future conditions. The presentation portion of the symposium closed with a ‘double-header’ by Helen Gurney-Smith. Her first presentation described how mass mortality events of mussels prompted the use of functional genomics to assess environmental and anthropogenic factors and whether these tools could assess vulnerability to climate change. Her second presentation explained the serious problems of ocean acidification in the Pacific Northwest, the likely cause of cultured shellfish mortalities, industry response, and ended with a ‘call to action’ for aquaculture stakeholders to engage in science and policy directly. Climate Change Ready-Management Strategies for the Future: World Aquaculture 2014 Some fascinating and timely work on seasonal forecasting developments in Australia was presented by session co-chair, Alistair Hobday. The largely ocean-driven weather systems in this region and application of advanced modeling techniques can now enable up to several months warning and prediction of the likelihood of extreme ocean conditions for fish farmers. Phimphakan Lebel reported on the perceptions of climate risk by river-based cage fish farmers in northern Thailand. The farmers needed no convincing of climate change realities, as 87 percent of those surveyed believed their operations were already experiencing these effects! Some interesting advancements were presented on methods for monitoring environmental stressors, such as extreme water quality events. Andrea Morash presented developments of a small heart-rate biosensor that can attach to abalone, alerting farmers to stressed shellfish. The sound of a recorded oyster heart-beat was the lead-in to Ros Harvey’s presentation on the development of a sensor network for shellfish farmers. Real-time spatial data is recorded, analyzed and can be communicated through userfriendly platforms such as smartphones, thereby enabling shellfish farmers to make informed and timely management decisions. Perhaps the most thought-provoking presentation of the session was by Diego Platas, who reported the outcome of three major 2010 storm events in tilapia producing areas of Mexico. Flooding and structural damage reduced the annual tilapia production by 80 percent due to the devastation of 1200 uninsured farms. The pre-2010 production level has yet to return. Despite the gut-wrenching losses, these disasters prompted producers to organize, assess damages, document lessons learned and engage government to move forward. If such storm events are expected to increase in intensity and possibly frequency in many aquaculture regions, the Mexican experience should serve as a caution. The Climate Change Message Aquaculture producers and stakeholders presently have more than enough challenges, let alone having to address the realities of climate change. However, the pending scope of these effects on seafood production are too important to ignore. Climate change and aquaculture sessions are wisely becoming regular themes at aquaculture meetings. Co-hosting speakers and collaboration on climate change communication between affiliated associations such as WAS and the AAC is encouraging. Making such information accessible and available to aquaculture stakeholders is a big step to prepare for the future. Acknowledgements Special thanks to Juan Pablo Lazo Corvera from the World Aquaculture Society, who co-chaired the Special Symposium on Climate Change at Aquaculture Canada 2014 with Tim Jackson; Alistair Hobday and Michael Phillips, for chairing the Climate Change Ready-Management Strategies for the Future, at World Aquaculture 2014; and the Canadian Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture Network for supporting Gregor Reid’s attendance at these aquaculture meetings. Notes Gregor K. Reid, Canadian Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture Network (CIMTAN), University of New Brunswick / Fisheries and Oceans Canada, St. Andrews Biological Station, 531 Brandy Cove Road, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada E5B 2L9, greid@unb.ca Tim Jackson, National Research Council of Canada – Industrial Research Assistance Program, 77 Germain Street, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada E2L 2E8, Timothy.Jackson@nrccnrc.gc.ca
WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2014 11 Associate Sponsors Americas Tilapia Alliance International Association of Aquaculture American Veterinary Medical Association Economics and Management Aquacultural Engineering Society Latin American Chapter WAS Aquaculture Association of Canada Striped Bass Growers Association Catfish Farmers of America US Shrimp Farming Association Global Aquaculture Alliance US Trout Farmers Association American Veterinary Medical Association World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION OF February 19-25, 2015 New Orleans Marriott New Orleans, Louisiana Aquaculture America 2015 Aquaculture – Center of the Plate For More Information Contact: Conference Manager P.O. Box 2302 | Valley Center, CA 92082 USA Tel: +1.760.751.5005 | Fax: +1.760.751.5003 Email: worldaqua@aol.com | www.was.org AA15 was ad CMYK.indd 1 1/29/14 9:01 PM
12 SEPTEMBER 2014 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG For more than 40 years, Professor Trygve Gjedrem’s enduring passion for the genetic improvement of fish species has greatly benefitted the aquaculture industry in Norway, relatively poor rural communities growing fish in Asia and those scientists who are engaged in the genetic improvement of aquatic species. At the World Aquaculture Society Conference in Adelaide, the Society recognized and presented Professor Trygve Gjedrem with the Honorary Life Award for his pioneering contribution to aquaculture genetics research, the development of genetically improved and domesticated breeds of farmed fish and shellfish and his enduring passion in seeing selective breeding implemented to improve the efficiency of aquaculture production around the world. Professor Gjedrem is a pioneer of fish genetic improvement, and is regarded by many as a father figure and a great mentor to younger scientists. Trygve was responsible for initiating the world’s first family-based breeding program for fish, which was for Atlantic salmon in Norway. The Royal Norwegian Academy of Sciences recognized that “the breeding program has been the most important factor in the development of the salmon industry in Norway.” His work over the last 40-50 years has not only stimulated the Norwegian salmon industry, but also greatly benefited relatively poor rural communities in Asia and other parts of the world where genetically improved fish such as tilapia or carp are farmed. He has published around 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. His research work has been cited many hundreds of times in the literature and his findings act as a platform on which further advances continue to be built. He has been one of the driving forces behind the development of several organizations committed to improving aquaculture around the world (e.g. Akvaforsk, now part of the food research institute Nofima in Norway, and the International Association for Genetics in Aquaculture). As a founder and Director over many years, Akvaforsk (the Norwegian Institute of Aquaculture Research) has, since 1971, been one of the great legacies of Trygve’s work. The mission of Akvaforsk was to develop new knowledge for the entire value chain in aquaculture, and to see that knowledge is implemented to benefit not only Norwegian aquaculture, but aquaculture worldwide. Professor Gjedrem sees it as a tragedy that so few of the world’s aquaculture industries have embraced genetic improvement, especially in China where the greatest benefits could be realized. He sees it as his life mission to encourage the development and spread of genetically improved stock around the world and preaches this message through his writing and lectures. He often remarks that “we wouldn’t think of farming wild cows, pigs or chickens, so why do we continue to farm wild fish?” Although this message took time to gain traction, genetic improvement programs are now being developed and initiated around the world and selective breeding is now considered to be a necessary component of aquaculture development for most aquaculture sectors around the world. Trygve is still known by his colleagues in Nofima as a highly motivated, kind and enthusiastic person, an educator and champion of his field of research. At 85, he continues to go to work bright and early most days, writes reviews and books and presents lectures to undergraduate students. He enthusiastically debates issues with the young graduates at work and serves as a source of wisdom and historical information for the lead group. Without Professor Gjedrem’s tireless efforts through more than 40 years it is probable that the world would continue to be more heavily reliant on wild fisheries than aquaculture, farmers would produce less fish per unit area, feed wastage and costs would be greater, we would suffer more loss to disease and the costs of treatment would be greater. — Nick Robinson, Nofima, Norway Trygve Gjedrem Receives Honorary Life Award from WAS Professor Gjedrem is a pioneer of fish genetic improvement, and is regarded by many as a father figure and a great mentor to younger scientists. Trygve was responsible for initiating the world’s first family-based breeding program for fish.
WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2014 13 The plenary session of World Aquaculture 2014 in Adelaide, Australia concluded by highlighting WAS student scholars and researchers in a “spotlight” competition. Three WAS students with the best scores on their abstract each presented a 3½ minute abbreviated version of their full presentation at the plenary session. Ballots were distributed to the plenary session audience to rank the presentations. Based on audience rankings, the three presenters were awarded cash prizes at the President’s reception. The winner of the Student Spotlight Competition was Fletcher Warren-Myers, a Ph.D. student at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His talk was titled “Otolith fingerprint signatures: A mass marking technique for farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar.” The other two presenters were Mahmoud A.O. Dawood from Kagoshima University in Kagoshima, Japan and Flavio Ribeiro from Flinders University in the conference host city of Adelaide. Mahmoud’s presentation was titled “Effects of the partial substitution of fish meal by soybean meal with or without heat-killed LP20 on growth performance, stress resistance and immune response of amberjack Seriola dumerili juveniles.” Flavio‘s talk was titled “Prey size preference and cannibalistic behavior in barramundi Lates calcarifer.” Oral Presentation Awards The top oral presentation honor was awarded to Nicole Rhody. Nicole is part of the Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture research team at Mote Marine Laboratory and received the first place oral presentation award for her talk titled “Influence of tidal cycles on the control of reproductive activity in common snook Centropomus undecimalis.” Her primary research focus has been to develop culture technologies for a variety of economically important temperate and tropical fish species. She is currently working on her doctorate in fish reproductive biology and physiology and scheduled to graduate from the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Scotland in November of this year. Nicole plans to continue her research at Mote with a focus in both basic and applied aspects of fish reproductive physiology including optimization of broodstock management techniques. The second place oral presentation honor went to Matthew Wylie. Matthew is currently pursuing his Ph.D., investigating the reproductive physiology and aquaculture of a wreckfish, known locally in New Zealand as hapuku (Polyprion oxygeneios). His presentation was titled “Hapuku Polyprion oxygeneios aquaculture in New Zealand — Growth and gonadal development of F1 broodstock under two different temperature regimes.” This work is a collaborative project supervised by Dr. Mark Lokman (University of Otago), Professor Abigail Elizur (University of the Sunshine Coast) and Dr. Jane Symonds (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand). When Matt completes this degree, he wishes to pursue a career in the field of finfish reproductive physiology and aquaculture with a particular interest in oocyte development, induction of spawning and egg quality of cultured species. In addition to strong interests in tropical marine ornamental aquaculture, his is excited to continue Student Awards at World Aquaculture 2014 (CONTINUED ON PAGE 15) TOP LEFT. WAS Student Activities Chair Chris Green (far left) presenting awards to World Aquaculture 2014 Student Spotlight presenters (left to right) Fletcher Warren-Myers, Mahmoud A.O. Dawood, and Flavio Ribeiro at the President’s reception. TOP MIDDLE. Nicole Rhody (right) examining gonad histology of female common snook with her supervisor, Dr. Kevan Main. TOP RIGHT. Matthew holding a second-generation hapuku (Polyprion oxygeneios) produced for the first time in 2013 at NIWA’s Bream Bay Aquaculture Park. (Photo: Alvin Setiawan) BOTTOM LEFT. Keng-Ming Wu (left) in the lab with advisor, Dr. Chung-Chyi Yu. BOTTOM RIGHT. Yu-An Ma (right) evaluating algal cultures with advisor, Dr. Chung-Chyi Yu.
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