Aquaculture News

From Blacksburg to Ethiopia: Veterinary college professors forge partnerships to tackle food insecurity, empower communities (July 30th, 2024) - Virginia Tech

Students at Virginia Tech had the opportunity to go to an Orphanage in Ethiopia where food is insecure
The idea of using aquaponics to "address nutritional needs and provide valuable skills training" was discussed
Work with the Global Opportunity Initiative as their mission of community engagement focusing on education, science, technology and entrepreneurship
Allows for collaboration with engineers, agriculture experts for crop management and public health

Source: https://news.vt.edu/articles/2024/07/vetmed-international-ethiopia.html

FWI Study Uses Satellites to Monitor Aquaculture Water Quality (July 4th, 2024) - Hatchery International Staff

Fish Welfare Initiative (FWI) uses satellite imagery to test for water quality parameters including dissolved oxygen (DO), Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), phycocyanin (PC), pH, and temperature. 
Two groups were used one to train a predictive model and the other was to validate the model. Ammonia, DO, Chl-a, and PC were sufficiently correlated meaning it has utility but pH and temperature were not. 

Source: http://magazine.hatcheryinternational.com/publication/?i=827475&article_id=4823870&view=articleBrowser

How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming the Seafood Sector (April 25, 2024) - Nathan Strout

AI is allowing farmers to see sea lice
The largest salmon-farming company in the world, Mowi, can detect sea lice before it becomes an issue
Tracking uncharted fishing vessels from space with the Global Fishing Watch (GFW) by understanding ocean activities and help regulators ensure compliance
Reliance on humans to process electronic monitoring instead using AI
AI is used to track and protect marine mammals, improve seafood marketing, and automating significant phases of aquaculture production

Source: https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/processing-equipment/how-artificial-intelligence-is-transforming-the-seafood-sector

Restorative Aquaculture for People, Profit and Planet (March 2024) - Barry Antonio Costa-Pierce

Provides the shift to develop new social licenses in aquaculture 
"Aquaculture toolbox" - new aquaculture production and restoring habitats and ecosystems 

Source: Weeks, C., Colyn, J., Boersen, G., & Knudson, B. (2014). A strategic plan for a thriving and sustainable aquaculture industry in Michigan.

Photo Credit: https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/restorative-aquaculture-for-nature-and-communities/

Efforts to Address Off-Flavor in RAS Fish are off the Charts (August 3, 2020) - Jodi Helmer - Global Seafood Alliance

Off-flavor production by bacteria. The build up in water produces geosmin (GSM) and 2-Methylisoborneol (MIB) . This build-up is absobed in gills and lipid-rich tissues throughout the fish flesh. To limit the off-flavor ozonation, algicides and activated carbon show promises for degrading the compounds
Adding additional bacteria can be effective in elimination or depuration (or purging) with clean water but then purging you can lose mass 
Feed alternatives - Besides fishmeal and feed-fish-to-fish 
Could be a problem in-terms of new product production and people liking the new product

Source: https://www.globalseafood.org/advocate/efforts-to-address-off-flavors-in-ras-fish-are-off-the-charts/