Perch (barramundi) in pond

Black Tiger Shrimp

Black Tiger Shrimps are commonly found in Southeast Asia. These shrimp are shipped raw shell-on, EZ Peel, PTO, cooked and other value added presentations. Black Tiger Shrimp are a highly adaptable seafood for the kitchen, suitable for all cooking methods. Most Black Tiger Shrimp available in the United States are raw, shell-on, EZ Peel and CPTO. Most Asian consumers prefer raw Head On. Black Tiger Shrimp have brown, blue, gray and black striped shells which cook to a pink, orange and red color. Occasionally you may find shrimp that have paper-thin or soft shells. These are simply shrimp that molted shortly before being harvested; they are of the same quality as others with more solid shells. All shrimp are in a continuous cycle of molting as they grow, exchanging their snug, smaller shell for a new thin shell that hardens until the next molt. Black tiger shrimp grow especially quickly, because they are grown in warm, tropical waters, so they molt quite often. The shrimp are sometimes sold in the retail sector with classifications of medium or large, while industry sizing is based on a per-pound value. For a shrimp labeled 21/25, there will be between 21 and 25 shrimp in one pound. The smaller the number, the larger the shrimp. Black tiger shrimp are the single most widely distributed and marketed shrimp in the world. Harvests occur along coastlines in a eastward arc from the southern tip of Africa almost to the Sea of Japan. About 80 percent of the black tigers on the market are farmed, with the remainder coming from various Asian countries. These shrimp are easy to farm, because they are quite adaptable and thrive in a wide range of environments. Black tiger shrimp are widely available year-round, although the supply of farmed shrimp peaks in February and September and prices should be somewhat lower then. Generally, the larger the shrimp, the higher the price.

New Fish Feeds Made From Fish By Products

US - Fish by-products may be a new source of fish feed, thanks to research by US Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded scientists in Hawaii.

Research scientist Dong-Fang Deng and her colleagues with the Oceanic Institute in Waimanalo, Hawaii, are collaborating with USDA food technologist Peter Bechtel to develop the new fish feeds. Dr Bechtel is with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Subarctic Agricultural Research Unit in Kodiak, Alaska. ARS is the USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency.

The scientists are taking fish parts that would normally be discarded—head, tail, bone, skin and internal organs – and fashioning them into feeds for shrimp and fish. They are currently testing the feeds on Pacific threadfin (Polydactylus sexfilis) – or 'moi' as Hawaiians call it – and Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei).

The researchers then characterise the nutrient composition of the feeds, evaluate their ability to attract the shrimp and moi, estimate the food's digestibility and assess the growth of the animals. Recent tests have shown that many of the Alaska fish parts work well as feeding stimulants, which entice the shrimp to eat the plant-protein-based feed to which fish byproducts had been added.

In an earlier ARS-funded study with moi, former Oceanic Institute scientist, Ian Forster, found that the nutritional quality of feeds made with discarded portions of Alaskan pollock and cod was equivalent to that of feed made from Norwegian fishmeal, generally regarded as the highest standard in the aquaculture feed industry. Forster and his colleagues found the same result when feeds were tested on shrimp.

According to Dr Deng, the scientists are currently examining how to best use fish by-products to develop practical feeds that are nutritionally balanced, cost effective and safe for the environment.

Details about these feed studies have been published in the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society and the Journal of Aquatic Food Product Technology.

Global Experts Study Aquatic Animal Disease

CANADA - The Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) at the University of Prince Edward Island and the National Veterinary Institute in Norway have joined forces to establish the world’s only OIE Collaborating Centre for Epidemiology and Risk Assessment of Aquatic Animal Diseases.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) confirmed the designation of the Centre during its annual general session in Paris in May 2010. OIE Collaborating Centres play a key role in the management of animal health issues and resulting impacts on the health of communities around the world. The OIE Collaborating Centre designation recognizes world leadership in aquatic epidemiological research for aquatic food production based at AVC and the National Veterinary Institute (Norway).

“Aquaculture is the fastest growing food sector in the world,” says Dr Larry Hammell, Co-director of the OIE Collaborating Centre, Director of AVC’s Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences and Innovation PEI Industry Research Chair in Epidemiology for Aquatic Food Production.

“Increasingly, countries around the world are turning to aquatic species as a source of high quality food for their populations,” explains Hammell. “This requires healthy food animals from healthy aquatic ecosystems. Establishing this Collaborating Centre is a timely and necessary step in supporting the future of aquatic health management on a global scale.”

“This partnership between our two institutions is a very exciting opportunity to solidify even stronger linkages, and develop research and training programs for other aquatic food producing countries,” says Dr. Edgar Brun, Head of the Epidemiology Section, National Veterinary Institute (Norway) and Co-director of the OIE Collaborating Centre.

Researchers from a range of aquatic health-related disciplines including finfish, mollusc and crustacean field studies will be part of the Centre. The Centre will focus on evidence-based health management using epidemiology--the study of disease in populations--for aquatic health issues.

It will also provide training for producers and scientists, conduct research involving local veterinarians and producers, and deliver services to the aquaculture industry and governments in areas such as:
. disease outbreak investigations and risk factor studies,
. surveillance and diagnostic test evaluation,
. disease control and clinical field trials,
. decision-support tools that deliver evidence-based outcomes to all levels of policy makers,
. training of experts in aquatic epidemiology and evidence-based health management,
. epidemiological risk assessment.

“Ensuring a safe, sustainable and affordable supply of food is an ongoing issue for much of the world’s growing population,” says Dr Brian Evans, Canada’s Chief Veterinary Officer and the country’s first Chief Food Safety Officer.

“The establishment of the OIE Collaborating Centre for Epidemiology and Risk Assessment of Aquatic Animal Diseases is an important contribution to both food security and to the global economy. Given the standards and competence that must be demonstrated to achieve designation by the OIE, it speaks volumes of the expertise and scientific excellence resident at AVC and at Norway’s National Veterinary Institute.”

The establishment of this OIE Collaborating Centre formalizes a network of global experts and will greatly increase knowledge and capacity needed to solve health management issues involving aquatic species. In addition to improving the health of aquatic species, the Centre will provide the scientific basis to influence international standards and guide policy decisions at all levels, including groups such as fish farmers, veterinarians, subnational and federal governments.

The Atlantic Veterinary College and the National Veterinary Institute (Norway) are world-leading academic-based aquatic health institutions. In addition to the OIE Collaborating Centre for Epidemiology and Risk Assessment of Aquatic Animal Diseases, AVC is home to an OIE Reference Laboratory for Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA), a Canada Excellence Research Chair in Aquatic Epidemiology, an Aquatic Diagnostics Laboratory, and several centres of aquatic species expertise.

Study Highlights Critical Contribution Of Hatchery Fish

US - The Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation [PWSAC] has released findings from an economic study that confirms a long-held suspicion: hatchery fish are critical to the sustainability and health of Alaska's commercial salmon fishery, the sport fishery and to regional and statewide economies.

Cordova-based PWSAC operates five hatcheries in the Prince William Sound/Copper River region, all of which generate millions of pink, chum, Coho and sockeye salmon for the common property commercial fleet, sport fishery, subsistence and personal use fishermen. In fact, the 2010 season produced the largest run of pink salmon in the history of the fishery, said Dave Reggiani, PWSAC general manager, and the huge return has added to the importance of PWSAC's presence and economic impact around the state.

The new snapshot, done for PWSAC by the McDowell Group of Anchorage and Juneau, examines the impact of those hatchery-produced fish, and found that in 2010, PWSAC salmon accounted for:
. 30 per cent of the statewide salmon harvest
. $317 million in total economic output
. 2,750 jobs
. $67 million in labor income for more than 30 regional economies, and,
. $1.8 million in fisheries business tax revenues to the state and nearly another $1 million in revenue to other local government treasuries.

"One of the things that has made this program so successful and sustainable from a financial point of view is that the fish pay for themselves," Mr Reggiani said. "We sell a portion of the fish returning to the hatchery and that helps pay for the next generation. Our hatcheries also are critical to the sustainability of jobs, strong local economies and the continued growth and investment by processors. They are a tremendous resource and a huge economic engine."

Cordova Mayor Jim Kallander agrees. "PWSAC is driving the economy of the entire North Gulf region," he said, "and aquaculture is vital to their future. The millions of pounds we ship out of here in finished and raw product, through other regional communities and through Anchorage do support jobs... we provide a lot of jobs, we put a lot of kids through college throughout Alaska and throughout the world who come here to work."

Markets for Alaska seafood and value-added salmon products enhance the demand for hatchery fish, Mr Reggiani said, and that makes a reliable return even more critical.

Clay Koplin, CEO of the Cordova Electric Cooperative, remembers when there were empty storefronts on main street: "There isn't a vacant storefront these days... It's jobs, jobs, jobs. It's the economy. The more sustainable the fisheries, the more reliable the fisheries, the more reliable the volume, it will continue to grow, and people can have confidence that the economy is going to be sustainable."

According to the McDowell study, in 2010 hatchery-born fish accounted for:

. 188 million pounds of PWSAC pink salmon harvested by the commercial fleet;
. $51 million PWSAC salmon harvested by the common property fisheries;
. $196 million in the ex vessel value of PWSAC salmon [price paid to fishermen];
. The first wholesale value of salmon [value of fish after it is sold out of the processing network] is not yet available. However, the record ex vessel value of the 2010 harvest suggests that processors will see those values rise well above those in 2008 when processors sold PWSAC salmon for $193 million.