Marine Biotechnology: Aquaculture & Fisheries

	Marine Biotechnology: fisheries and aquaculture

This page:
Improving regional fisheries and assisting aquaculture productivity through marine biotechnology.

• Examining stress
• Managing fisheries
• Aquaculture cleanup
• Year-round oystering

For other developments:

Biomedicine

Environmental achievements

Agricultural & industrial applications

Fisheries and Aquaculture:
Addressing decline and demand

The problems. In many areas where commercial and recreational fishing have played significant economic roles, fisheries have declined because of pathogens, pollution, and overfishing. Viruses, bacteria, and protozoans have devastated the shrimp industry in Hawaii and oyster fisheries in both the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico. Currently, no effective treatments are available for most pathogens. Wildlife managers also face difficulties in restocking various freshwater fishes due to problems associated with raising fish stock, including high over-wintering mortality, slow fish growth, and unsuccessful breeding.

Potential solutions. One strategy researchers are using to address marine pathogens is the development of species with increased resistance to specific viruses and bacteria. Another strategy is to block the parasite's ability to proliferate in the host using molecular methods; the starting point for this tactic is discovering the molecular and genetic basis for the factors that influence the host-parasite relationship.

Many see economic and food potential In the related area of aquaculture, or seafood "farming." To increase productivity and reduce disease in this field, researchers are developing transgenic fish with increased fertility, faster growth rates, and improved temperature tolerance. Hand in hand with such efforts, Sea-Grant supported scientists are developing safeguards to protect the natural genetic makeup of wild species.

Below we have listed developments in this area that are complete or near completion.

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Developments in Aquaculture and Fisheries

Developing Tools to Examine Stress and Disease

Using the Atlantic white shrimp as a model organism, researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina are developing new methods and technologies for examining environmental stresses and disease in fish. During this process, the Sea Grant-supported researchers are training graduate students in the new and emerging technologies associated with “eco-genomics.”

Improving Management of Heavily Fished Species

The Cooperative Institute for Fisheries Molecular Biology (FISHTEC) program, supported by South Carolina Sea Grant, addresses the growing need to better understand the population dynamics of heavily fished commercial species. This program is using techniques of molecular biology to study and manage coastal and deep-ocean fishes and stocks. These efforts are particularly important for species that migrate to other fisheries, where they may be caught. FISHTEC scientists have studied blue marlin, swordfish, bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, sharks, and striped bass.

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Using Bioremediation To Solve Aquaculture Pollution

A University of Connecticut research team is utilizing nori, a red alga, to address the problem of the waste pollution from farmed fish in high-intensity aquaculture settings. The alga will "scrub" nitrogen and phosphorus from the water surrounding salmon pens. The bioremediation process transforms the fish waste into nutritious food.

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Producing Oysters That Can Be Harvested Year Round

In nature, oysters have only two sets of chromosomes, but in the laboratory, they can be produced with three sets of chromosomes. Known as triploids, these manipulated oysters do not spawn and, thus, remain fat during the summer. In contrast, natural diploid oysters use their stored glycogen during spawning and yield lean meat during the summer. Researchers supported by Louisiana Sea Grant envision the farming and harvesting of triploid oysters during summer months to offset seasonal economic losses for oyster processors. Their challenge is to reduce the high rate of egg mortality associated with the chemicals that induce triploidy. Their strategy involves using previously developed procedures to make tetraploid oysters (with four sets of chromosomes) and then to cross these with diploids to produce triploid oysters.

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Mast Photo: Moi, Pacific threadfin inside an aquaculture cage. Credit: NOAA fish0005.

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The Marine Biotechnology Theme Team The National Sea Grant Program
Please send comments about this site to: Dr. Jonathan Kramer, Chair, kramer@mdsg.umd.edu Last modified October 03, 2005 http://www.biotech.seagrant.org//achievmts/aquacult.htm Accessibility Statement