With bivalve aquaculture dominating the marine aquaculture industry, the benefits it provides to local economies cannot be understated. But as Andrew van der Schatte Olivier, PhD student at Bangor University explains, “there is so much more to bivalve aquaculture than we currently think...”
With open access science becoming more common, some disreputable publishers are seeking to make a quick profit - and the expense of quality science. For the aquaculture industry, the repercussions could be serious.
Piscirickettsia salmonis has been the bane of Chile's salmon aquaculturalists. Vaccines have been largely ineffective, and antibiotics given mixed results. Mandatory three-month fallowing, on the other hand, seems to routinely reduce the chance of reinfection.
In an effort to allow growth of this increasingly important sector for Norway’s economy whilst minimising its ecological footprint, the Norweigen Government have introduced four reforms to push ‘the greening of Norwegian salmon production’.
Numerous studies have indicated acidification and in some cases more specifically, saturation state (the amount of carbonate dissolved in seawater relative to the maximum it can hold) will have impacts on marine life, including species used for aquaculture.
Climate change impacts the ocean, and these changes will in turn impact a variety of marine life, including those caught for aquaculture feed - and mariculture species themselves.
If your a Pacific Islander, climate change is likely to be a huge problem. It all comes down to reliance on local resources, and in many cases these resources come from local marine waters.
Farmed fish and shellfish is becoming increasingly common in our supermarkets, but did you know that global aquaculture production has now overtaken beef production?