14 DECEMBER 2017 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG TOWARD THE PROFESSIONALIZATION OF AQUACULTURE Santosh Lall was a Principal Research Officer at the Institute for Marine Biosciences of the National Research Council (NRC), Halifax, Canada, until his retirement in April 2013. He received M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Nutrition from the University of Guelph. Dr. Lall led Marine Bioactives and Aquatic Animal Health and Nutrition groups at the NRC and was Head of the Fish Health and Nutrition program at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. As an adjunct professor at Dalhousie University, University of Prince Edward Island and Honorary Research Associate at University of New Brunswick, he has supervised or co-supervised more than 30 advanced degree students. He has undertaken and directed research for more than four decades, with more than 150 publications in fish nutrition and related areas. He has also worked closely with the aquafeed industry and international research organizations. He has served as a member and Chair of the International Fish Nutrition Committee (of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences), National Academy Committee (NRC, Washington) on “Minerals and Toxic Substances” and “Nutrient Requirements of Fish,” and Area Editor, Encyclopedia of Farm Animal Nutrition. Dr. Lall is a recipient of several national and international awards, among them the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal 2012 for his contributions to science and technology development. He continues to be involved in fish research through graduate students at Dalhousie University, scientists at the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen, Norway, and by the publication of scientific papers and reviews. Below is the quintessence of our conversation, held on 15 November 2016. Rodrigue Yossa: Why have you chosen to work in aquaculture? Santosh Lall: I was trained, initially, as an animal nutritionist and I started my scientific career in 1974 with a Ph.D. in Nutrition from the University of Guelph. At that time, research on fish nutrition was just starting there, with the hiring of C.Y. Cho. Upon graduation, it was difficult to find a job in nutritional biochemistry or terrestrial animal nutrition research in Canada. My Ph.D. advisor encouraged me to a try the area of fish nutrition. I took the challenge and worked on contract with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This is how I got involved in aquaculture and fish nutrition. In those days, there were only a few labs working on fish nutrition in North America, such as the Tunison Laboratory of Fish Nutrition, Dr. John Halver’s lab and at certain other universities in the US. The fish feed and nutrition workshop held annually in the USA provided an excellent opportunity to meet and communicate with people involved in fish nutrition research and diet development from industry, academic and government institutions. I also started working with federal hatcheries in Atlantic Canada to develop salmonid nutrition programs, including prevention of nutritional diseases and improved growth and survival of smolts after their release into natural waters. These activities opened doors for me to become familiar with fish physiology and nutrition and address the main issues of hatchery production and the emerging aquaculture industry. However, it was a difficult choice, because I could work with laboratory animals and get results in four weeks, while with fish I could plan an experiment for 16 weeks, but after 12 weeks, if there were high mortalities, I could lose everything. Nevertheless, I really liked working with fish and I decided to stay in the fish nutrition area. Rodrigue Yossa: How would you describe the ideal aquaculture scientist? Santosh Lall: The first thing that should be considered when you want to become an aquaculture scientist is a basic knowledge of aquaculture. The ideal scientist must be knowledgeable, imaginative, creative, a team player and respect the opinions of others. An aquaculture scientist integrates the knowledge of many areas and must have working knowledge of physiology, animal nutrition, animal health, and also some aspects of aquaculture engineering. An aquaculture scientist should be able to understand the problems of aquaculture industry and work with other scientists. I learned many things talking to colleagues who were excellent fish physiologists or microbiologists, with a limited knowledge of aquaculture nutrition. By combining our expertise and knowledge, we were able to resolve some key health problems of the aquaculture industry. A balance between applied and basic research is important, and the aquaculture scientist should not be carried away always with producing publications in journals of high impact factor. A good scientist should also have good communication skills to teach students, train farmers, and interact with several different audiences and stimulate them with the challenges facing the aquaculture A Conversation with Dr. Santosh Lall Rodrigue Yossa Santosh Lall
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