15/08/2014: Tilapia farming in China by International Aquafeed magazine

Tilapia is one kind of small and medium-sized tropical fish, originating from the inland of Africa and the Middle East Atlantic coastal brackish water area, Israel and Jordan of west Asia.

Read more stories from this edition HERE

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This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd

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14/08/2014: Seagrass losses equal that of the Amazon rain forests

Underwater fish "meadows" are being lost at the same rate as the Amazon rain forests, researchers have warned, reports BBC Wales.

Seagrass is a key habitat for feeding and sheltering young fish, including plaice, haddock and pollock.
 

Plaice of safety - the seagrass shelter offers juvenile fish protection and a greater chance of survival

But every hour an area the size of two football pitches is destroyed.
Scientists from Swansea University believe the habitats need to be protected otherwise fishing stocks could be affected.

"The rate of loss is equal to that occurring in tropical rainforests and on coral reefs yet it receives a fraction of the attention," said Dr Richard Unsworth, lead researcher.

"If you're a small fish, like a juvenile cod, then you need food and shelter. Seagrass meadows provide both."

The biggest threat is from poor water quality and damage caused by boat anchors and moorings.

The Swansea research, for the Natural Environment Research Council (Nerc), is part of a global conservation effort to save seagrass.

The team, using baited underwater camera systems and netting, took a year to measure the size and number of fish in seagrass meadows in the seas around Britain, and compared the results with nearby sand habitats.

The study included Porthdinllaen and Pen-y-Chain on the Llyn peninsula in Gwynedd.

In one seagrass site off the Gwynedd coast, divers found 42 fish species, 10 of which are important commercially.

Read more HERE.

The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd

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14/08/2014: Achieving better profit margins in Bihar

Fish farming is an important and fast growing sector in Bihar. The state has immense natural aquatic resources in the forms of ponds and tanks where quality fish seed are required for good fish production, reports The Hindu news service.
 

Yogi in his Kailash Fish Hatchery in Dharbhanga. Photo: Special Arrangement

“The gap existing between demand and supply of fish seed provide huge opportunities for unemployed youth to invest in fish seed production sector of aquaculture” says Dr Tun Tun Singh, fisheries extension officer, office of Deputy Director, fisheries, Darbhanga.

Mr Yogi Sahani in Jagdishpur village, Darbhanga, was attracted to venture in fish seed business because of a high profit margin in Northeastern states. Initially he used to buy fish spawns from Naihati, Kolkata, and other local fish seed producers from in Bihar.

Gross income
Today Mr. Sahani’s hatchery unit generates a gross income of Rs 50 lakh a year from sale of carp spawns, fry and fingerlings (different stages in fish growth) alone.

A family of nine members with three acres of agricultural land and 0.5 acre pond, Mr. Sahani could barely meet the basic needs of his family about 10 years back. Dr Tun Tun Singh, fisheries extension officer during a routine village tour, met him and advised him to start a Hapa breeding pond to raise fish spawns at very low cost.

Hapa breeding is a low cost technique to produce different fish spawns in a captive net inside the pond. From 2006 till 2008 Mr Sahani took a two acre pond on an annual lease and did the same.

Five lakhs
In three years he was able to earn Rs. 5 lakh which raised his confidence to venture into establishing a carp seed hatchery unit.

In 2009, the fisheries department officials helped him in establishing the unit in his three acre land.

Initially the farmer invested Rs.7 lakh out of which Rs.5 lakh was from his own saving and Rs.2 lakh was borrowed from several private moneylenders at exorbitant interest rate of five percent a month. The hatchery was named Kailash Matshya hatchery.

Bank loan
A project report was prepared and a loan of Rs. 15 lakh was sanctioned from a nationalised bank. The loan amount was used for constructing some more carp hatchery units.

The unit over a period of time improved from producing about 12 million fries to gradually 20 million fries in three acres.

Keeping in view of the growing demand for fingerlings Mr. Sahani outsourced a 50 acre pond from a private pond owner. Presently he has 26 ponds in 53.5 acre area under his supervision.

Subsidy
The fish farmer also got a subsidy of Rs3 lakh for the project from the State govt and was conferred the Best farmer award in 2012 by the Bihar agriculture University.

“My gross income in 2013-14 was over Rs.50 lakh. I earned Rs.25 lakh as a net profit. I have repaid all bank and private loans within two years,” says Mr. Sahani.

His customers are mainly from North-West part of Bihar, particularly from Madhubani, Darbhanga, Champaran, Muzaffarpur,Bettiah and Vaishali districts. These fish farmers travel long distance to purchase the fish seeds from Kailash hatchery because of its good quality, fair price and services.

In Bihar especially the government's encouragement towards developing fish seed hatcheries is quite encouraging.

In fact the government and banks welcome new entrepreneurs into this line. Till some years back Mr. Sahani worked as a labour to harvest fish and Makhana from the ponds of big farmers on daily wage basis. But today he has become a role model for nearly 500 fish farmers in the region, according to Dr Tun Tun.

Read more HERE.

The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd

For additional daily news from aquaculture around the world: aquacutlure-news

14/08/2014: Fish bladder harvesting and smuggling the new 'cocaine' trade

The bladders of endangered fish from the Gulf of California reportedly sell for thousands illegally, reports Daily Mail.

A Totoaba fish bladder sells between US$7000 and US$14,000 - and soup  containing the organ may go for $25,000 in China, according to a Mexicali Digital report.
 

Fishy: This March 2013 image provided by the U.S. attorney's Office shows Totoaba bladders displayed at a US border crossing in downtown Calexico, Mexico

Totoaba bladders travel to the United States and and eventually reach Asia, the website reported.

According to the Smithsonian Institution's website, one totoaba bladder can attract a US$5000 payoff in the United States, and more than US$10,000 in Asia.

Both Mexican drug cartels and US smugglers have transported the fish, according to Fox News Latino.

In Mexico, Samuel Gallardo Castro was allegedly murdered in June due to an outstanding US$1million fish payment, and last year four traffickers were busted, Fox said.

Mexican regulators seized illegal totoaba bladders worth an estimated US$2.25million in 2013 alone. In the United States, seven defendants were charged in four separate complaints with unlawful trade in wildlife.

Jason Xie, 49, of Sacramento was accused last year of taking delivery of 169 bladders on March 30 2013 in a hotel parking lot in Calexico, about 120 miles east of San Diego. Xie told investigators he was paid US$1500 to US$1800 for each of 100 bladders in February.

Anthony Sanchez Bueno, 34, of Imperial was charged with the same crime after authorities said he drove the 169 bladders across the downtown Calexico border crossing in three coolers.

He told investigators he was to be paid US$700.

Song Zhen, 73, was accused of storing 214 dried totoaba bladders in his Calexico home.

'It's aquatic cocaine,' said Jay Barlow, a marine mammal expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 'With two days of fishing, you can buy a new pickup truck.'

An International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita report said the US must play a role, noting 'thousands of swim bladders are dried and smuggled out of Mexico, often through the United States. The remainder of the fish is left to rot on the beach.'

Read more HERE.

The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd

For additional daily news from aquaculture around the world: aquacutlure-news

14/08/2014: Stem cell research discovery in zebrafish

Australian researchers studying zebrafish have made one of the most significant ever discoveries in stem cell research, reports The Guardian.
 

They have uncovered the mystery of how a critical type of stem cell found in blood and bone marrow, and essential to replenishing the body’s supply of blood and immune cells, is formed.

The cells, called hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), are already used in transplants for patients with blood cancers such as leukemia and myeloma.

But HSCs have significant potential to treat a broader range of conditions because they appear to be able to form all kinds of vital cells including muscle, blood vessel and bone.

The problem was scientists had no idea how HSCs formed, making growing them in a lab and using them to treat spinal cord injuries, diabetes and degenerative disorders impossible.

However, a research team led by Professor Peter Currie, from the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Victoria’s Monash University, uncovered a major part of HSC’s development.
Understanding how HSCs self-renew to replenish blood cells is considered the holy grail of advancing stem cell research.

Using high-resolution microscopy, Currie’s team filmed HSCs as they formed inside zebrafish embryos. In playing the film back, they saw a “buddy” cell appeared to help HSCs form.

“It’s a sad fact of life that humans are basically just modified fish, and our genomes are virtually identical to theirs,” Currie said.

“Zebrafish make HSCs in exactly the same way as humans do, but what’s special about these guys is that their embryos and larvae develop free living and not in utero as they do in humans.

“So not only are these larvae free-swimming, but they are also transparent, so we could see every cell in the body forming, including HSCs.”

The researchers were initially studying muscle mutations in the zebrafish. But when playing the film back they noticed that the muscle-deficient zebrafish had several times the normal population of HSCs.


Read more HERE.

The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd

For additional daily news from aquaculture around the world: aquacutlure-news

14/08/2014: Whales and dolphins squeal with delight while another faces extinction

Whales and dolphins squeal with delight

Beluga whales and bottlenose dolphins express their pleasure by squealing like children, a new study suggests for the first time.
 

A bottlenose dolphin calls.
Photograph by Frans Lanting, National Geographic Creative

The squeaky sounds, which are different from the echolocation buzzes some whales and dolphins use to home in on prey, suggest there’s yet another aspect of behavior that people share with marine mammals, among the smartest groups of the animal kingdom.

For decades, scientists and marine mammal trainers have noticed these “extra” vocalizations when they rewarded captive animals with food. They have also observed it in wild animals.

Some have brushed it off as an inadvertent artifact of the training process, or figured it was a part of the food calls some whales and dolphins make. (See “Dolphins Have ‘Names,’ Respond When Called.”)

This new work, published August 13 in the Journal of Experimental Biology, suggests that belugas and bottlenose dolphins make the noises to express their delight.

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/13/belugas-dolphins-squealing-happiness-animals-science/

A bottlenose dolphin calls. Photograph by Frans Lanting, National Geographic Creative

Read more HERE. 



The vaquita porpoise is rapidly going extinct 
The vaquita, a small porpoise found only in the Gulf of California, is rapidly going extinct, an international team of scientists reported earlier this month.
 

Only 97 vaquita porpoises remain in the wild. Their steep decline is blamed largely on illegal gill-net fishing in the Gulf of California.
Photograph by Flip Nicklin, Minden Pictures/Corbis

The researchers say that the marine mammals—whose name means "little cow" in Spanish—are accidentally drowning in the gill nets local fishers deploy for fish and shrimp. A mere 97 vaquitas remain.

Vaquitas are shy creatures, and rarely seen, except when they're pulled to the surface—dead—in nets. They've been known to science only since 1958, when three skulls were found on a beach.

At the time, it was thought that they numbered in the low thousands. Scientists and fishers alike say the animals, with their pretty facial markings ("they look like they're wearing lipstick and mascara," one scientist said) and sleek bodies, are endearing.

There's danger now that the porpoises will become the second cetacean (the first was the baiji, or Chinese river dolphin) to succumb to human pressures, most likely disappearing forever by 2018.

"It's a complete disappointment for everybody, because we've all been working hard to turn this around, and the [Mexican] government has addressed this from the highest level possible," said Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, a cetacean conservation specialist at Mexico's Commission of Natural Protected Areas and a member of the team.

Indeed, the Mexican government established a presidential commission on vaquita conservation in 2012, when scientists estimated the porpoise's population at 200.

Read more HERE. 

The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd

For additional daily news from aquaculture around the world: aquacutlure-news

13/08/2014: Indonesia International Seafood & Processing Expo 2014

The Indonesia International Seafood & Processing Expo 2014 is a three-day exposition where stakeholders in the seafood and its processing industry will get a chance to introduce their latest range of products while buyers can take a closer look at what Indonesia can offer and explore its potentials.

Specially designated program to maximize participation is also available, such as Seminars and Field Trip to major destinations of seafood processing plant in Indonesia showcasing the continued good management of the world’s largest archipelago’s rich resources. The seminar – in partnership with the Association of International Seafood Professionals, will provide essential information and discussions over the seafood industry.

IISP 2014 is scheduled on October 29-31, 2014, at Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Bali, Indonesia in conjunction with the ASEAN Tuna Working Group. IISP 2014 has prepared business-support facilities and services, especially designed to serve the respected exhibitors, buyers, business executives and trade representatives in exploring business opportunities. This event will bring benefits for seafood producers, processing machinery manufacturers and distributors, to take advantage of the occasion and pursue future business prospects.

For more information please contact Event Secretariat:

Jl. Prof. Soepomo Komp. BIER no. 12E

Pancoran – Jakarta, Indonesia

P: +6221 829 1563

F: +6221 829 8980

E: info@iisp2014.com

The Aquaculturists

This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd

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13/08/2014: Two-headed dolphin discovered in Turkey & Agressive dolphin off County Cork

In this photo of con-joined dolphin taken by gym teacher Tugrul Metin, while he was vacationing during the first few days of August 2014, in the Aegean Sea coastal town of Dikili, Izmir province of Turkey.AP/Tugrul Metin

Conjoined dolphin
Turkish media reports say Turkish scientists will examine a two-headed dolphin that washed up on a beach in western Turkey, reports Fox News.

The private Dogan news agency said the remains of conjoined dolphin calf were discovered on a beach in Dikili, near the Aegean city of Izmir last week by a vacationing gym teacher.

It quoted Akdeniz University marine biologist Mehmet Gokoglu as saying the dolphin was a rare occurrence, similar to conjoined twins.
Marine biologists at Akdeniz University will study the dolphin.

Read more HERE. 


Aggressive dolphin
A bottlenose dolphin has "aggressively" pushed a man underwater off the County Cork coast, according to a report made to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, reports the BBC.

The report stated that the dolphin attacked the man twice and "lashed out with its tail", during the incident off Sherkin Island about two weeks ago.

It prompted the IWDG to repeat warnings that swimmers should be extremely cautious if interacting with dolphins.

The dolphin, known as Clet, is a new visitor to Irish waters this year. 

Read more HERE.

The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd

For additional daily news from aquaculture around the world: aquacutlure-news

13/08/2014: Protecting Asia's giant salmon - one river at a time

A Siberian taimen captured by an angler in the Russian Far East. The populations there are renowned for feeding, and growing large, on abundant Pacific salmon. Photograph by Misha Skopets, courtesy of Wild Salmon Center

Big news about a big fish this week, in a forgotten corner of the world.  Our Russian conservation partner, Khabarovsk Wildlife Foundation, announced the creation of a new freshwater protected area (PA) in the Russian Far East, the Tugursky Nature Reserve (see Wild Salmon Center press release here).

This large river system, located in a remote corner of Russia and flowing into the Sea of Okhotsk in the North Pacific, is home to the largest member of the salmon and trout family, the Siberian taimen (Hucho taimen).  Yes, that is right – bigger than the much revered king salmon!  Much bigger.

The largest recorded specimen tipped the scales at 105 kg (231 pounds), and over 2 m (nearly 7 feet) in length!  They can live to be at least 30 years old.  The PA amounts to 80,000 acres (~32,000 hectares), and includes critical riparian and undeveloped floodplain habitat.  Needless to say, a huge conservation win.

In the grand scheme of human development on Earth, lower river riparian and floodplain habitat are the first to be lost (think productive farmland, ship ports, etc.).

A quick Google Earth flyover of any major river system in the United States will easily convince you that we’ve lost a huge amount of this type of river habitat, which is critical to the well-being of freshwater life, including salmon.  I find myself lamenting this loss of habitat every time I cross a large bridge or fly over our coastline near my home in the US Pacific Northwest.
Thanks to trends involving geopolitics, however, many of the great salmon rivers in the Russian Far East are still relatively pristine, with a very light human footprint.  My organization, the Wild Salmon Center, has been working actively with Russian partners since the 1990s to help permanently protect this natural legacy.

Read more HERE.

The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd

For additional daily news from aquaculture around the world: aquacutlure-news

13/08/2014: A disturbing story - Human kidneys sell as frozen seafood

Human kidneys were labeled as seafood when sent from Nanchang, capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province, to Guangzhou, The Beijing News reported as it revealed details of a trade that led to 12 people being sent to prison last month, reported the website Sina English.

The kidneys were stored in a refrigerated container before being flown south to the Guangdong Province capital. One of the gang, Mo Yongqing, said airport security were told it was frozen seafood, something he said that worked every time.

Mo, 32, was among those sentenced to between two years and nine and a half years in prison last month at Qingshanhu District People’s Court in Nanchang.

The gang, which made more than 1.5 million yuan (US$243,600) between October 2011 and February 2012, recruited nearly 40 potential “donors” online with 23 of them having a kidney removed.

One donor, a 21-year-old from Anhui Province, told the newspaper he wanted to earn some money to show his father he could live on his own.

He saw an advertisement online and went to Nanchang in October 2011.

Before the transplant, he stayed in a motel under guard and was taken to two hospitals to see if he was a match with patients needing a transplant.

About three weeks later, he was blindfolded and taken to a hospital to have a kidney removed. He was paid 25,000 yuan.

Most of the donors were in their 20s and 30s and paid between 22,000 and 25,000 yuan, the newspaper said.

Another man, a 27-year-old, said he sold a kidney to pay gambling debts. He was taken from Guangzhou to Nanchang in November 2011 to have it removed.

The gang paid the private Nanchang Huazhong Hospital 35,000 yuan for the hire of a room for each operation, the newspaper said.
The hospital has since been closed down.

Jiang Zhenglin, a doctor, earned 10,000 yuan for each operation. Nurses “borrowed” from other hospitals were paid up to 4,000 yuan.

Read more HERE.

The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd

For additional daily news from aquaculture around the world: aquacutlure-news