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As the world's leading producer of farmed aquatic food products, China faces great uncertainty concerning the further sustainable development of its aquaculture industry due to high and increasing pressure from environmental and resource constraints. To realize truly sustainable development, it is imperative to establish an evaluation system that integrates social, economic, environmental and resource criteria, and optimizes aquaculture systems through a holistic approach. Here, we used analytical hierarchy processes combined with expert judgment and objective data to assess the sustainability of 10 major aquaculture production systems (APSs) in China. Based on the evaluation results, we propose the ecological intensification of aquaculture systems (ELIAS), rationally integrating anthropogenic inputs with aquaculture ecosystem services, to improve the sustainability of APSs. The holistic evaluation system and ELIAS are fundamental and critical for the future development of aquaculture in China and globally.

The present article reports the densities of planktonic sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus) in three Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) localities, and the relationship between the abundance of adult sea lice on the salmon and the densities of planktonic sea lice stages, during a complete production cycle followed by a fallowing period. Samples were taken downstream inside and immediately outside of cages, at one locality with lice skirts and two localities without lice skirts. There were no differences in densities of planktonic sea lice in samples taken from the inside or the outside of cages for any of the localities. However, the proportion-non-zero of planktonic sea lice samples taken from inside the cage was higher during months with a temperature above 9°C (mean abundance: 0.40–2.5 individuals m–3) than months with temperature below 9°C (mean abundance: 0.02–0.21 individuals m–3, odds ratio of the proportion-non-zero: p < 0.01). Densities of planktonic sea lice correlated most strongly with temperature in the first year (τ = 0.44–0.57, p < 0.05). A significant correlation between the number of adult female lice on salmon and average density of plankton sea lice was found in the locality with lice skirts during the second year (τ = 0.43 inside cages, τ = 0.58 outside cages, both p values < 0.05). Background levels of planktonic sea lice in the succeeding fallowing period showed neither L. salmonis nor C. elongatus planktonic sea lice, suggesting that there was successful reduction of the densities of planktonic sea lice for this area during the fallowing period.

To reach the goal of large-scale seaweed cultivation in Norway, new knowledge concerning commercially important species like the kelp Saccharina latissima is essential. This includes fundamental understanding of physiological mechanisms like nutrient uptake kinetics to better understand its ecological niche and nutritional requirements. The initial short-term nitrate (NO3−) uptake kinetics in cultivated S. latissima juvenile sporophytes were evaluated under nitrogen-saturated and nitrogen-limited conditions. The uptake was measured for concentrations in a gradient from 2 to 18 μM NO3− which is representative of Norwegian coastal waters in the main growth season of winter and early spring. Preconditioning treatments led to internal nitrogen pools (total tissue nitrogen and intracellular nitrate) that were significantly lower for the N-limited than for the N-saturated sporophytes prior to the experiment. Nitrate uptake rates, related to biomass (V) and intracellular nitrogen content (U), were linearly related to the substrate concentrations for both N-limited and N-saturated sporophytes, indicating that S. latissima requires high ambient nitrate concentrations to maintain rapid growth. The sporophytes with deficient internal nitrogen pools exhibited higher uptake rates of NO3− than sporophytes with higher internal pools of nitrogen. Mathematical modelling was used to investigate the temporal development of total tissue nitrogen (QN) based on the nitrogen-specific uptake rates (U) and revealed a near linear response of U to changes in QN. The model also found that a maximum estimated value for QN was only approached after more than 20 days at external NO3- concentrations of 8 μM. These results expand the physiological understanding of cultivated S. latissima and are important for a sustainable upscaling of seaweed farm production. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Different incubation techniques for yolk sac larvae of Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus L.) were compared and evaluated on the basis of survival and amount of normally developed larvae. The three investigated incubator concepts were; 3-litre glass-bowls maintained with stagnant water, 100-litre flat bottom PVC-tanks run with slow water exchange, and 350–1450 litre flow through silos with up-streaming water. The survival at the end of the yolk sac stage in 3-litre bowls was 30–90%, and increased reproducibility was obtained by addition of 25 ppm antibiotics to the water at start of the incubation. In the PVC tanks the survival was lower (20–55%). The flow through silo-incubators with up-wards water flow gave survival of 30–70%, and exhibited the highest reproducibility in survival for replicates. The fraction of normally developed larvae ready for first feeding varied both with larval batches and incubator-type. For all batches of eggs, lowest amount of normal larvae were obtained in the 100 litre PVC-tanks. In the bowls and the silos the fraction of normal larvae were 55–75% in the investigated batches. The most dominating deformity was jaw deformity (gaping), and lowest relative fraction of gaping was obtained in the bowls and in silos in larval batch 2. An overall evaluation of the incubator potential of efficient large scale production of yolk sac larvae ready for first feeding suggests that the silo-incubators have the highest potential.

Backgound: The present study investigated the effect of different lipid source in the feed on the colonization and the bacterial succession in early life stages (fertilized eggs until 93 days post first feeding) of S. salar. The two diets used in this study, FD (fish oil based diet) and VD (vegetable oil based diet), were formulated to cover the fish nutritional requirements and except the lipid source the components were identical between them.Hindgut samples collected at 0, 35, 65 and 93 days post first feeding (dpff). Moreover, fertilized eggs, yolk sac larvae, rearing water and feed were also sampled in order to assess a possible contribution of their microbiota to the colonization of the gut. To analyze the composition of the bacterial communities, the Illumina MiSeq platform was used. Results: S. salar growth variables (mean wet weight and total length) did not differ significantly during the experiment (p> 0.05) across replicate tanks and between dietary treatments. The analysis of the 16S rDNA sequencing data revealed a total of 4548 unique OTUs, affiliated in 21 bacterial phyla. Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the dominant bacterial phyla. 13 OTUs were shared among all S. salar samples independent of life stage and diet treatment. Similarity percentages analysis (SIMPER) based on Bray–Curtis distance, showed that the average dissimilarity among the groups of the same life stages was 76.0%, whereas the average dissimilarity within groups of the same dietary treatment was 78.5% (FD) and 83.6% (VD). Conclusion: Feeding on either fish oil or vegetable oil-based diets, did not result in significant differences in the intestinal microbiota. The composition of gut microbiota did not differ significantly between the two dietary treatments, but changed with age, and each stage was characterized by different dominant bacteria. These OTUs are related to species that provide different functions and have been isolated from a variety of environments. Finally, this study revealed the occurrence of a core microbiota independent of the studied life stages and diet during the early life stages of Atlantic salmon.

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production industry in terms of annual growth rate and has become an important contributor in supplying essential macro-and micro-nutrients for the global population. However, there is a great deal of uncertainty in its further development due to the high and increasing pressure of environmental challenges and of resource constraints. To achieve overall sustainable development of the aquaculture sector in China, the dominant producer of farmed seafood in the world, the priority is to clarify the sustainability of major aquaculture production systems (APSs) and to seek a holistic approach to improve their sustainability. Here the sustainability of ten major types of APSs in China, was evaluated comparatively by three objective and subjective methods involving eleven social, economic, environmental, and resource criteria. Accordingly, ecological intensification of aquaculture systems (ELIAS), integrating anthropogenic inputs with aquaculture ecosystem services, is proposed to improve the sustainability of these APSs. ELIAS that should be widely adopted by the multiple stakeholders provides a feasible solution to realize the goals of increasing aquaculture outputs with less negative environmental influence while saving energy at the same time.

Fjord systems in higher latitudes are unique coastal water ecosystems that facilitate the study of dissolved organic matter (DOM) dynamics from surface to deeper waters. The current work was undertaken in the Trondheim fjord characterized by North Atlantic waters, and compared DOM fractions from three depths - surface (3 m), intermediate (225 m) and deep (440 m) in four seasons, from late spring to winter in 2017. The high-resolution mass spectrometry data showed that DOM composition varies significantly in different seasons rather than in different depths in the fjord systems. The bacterial community composition was comparable except at spring surface and summer intermediate depths. Bacterial production was minimal below the euphotic layer, even with sufficient availability of inorganic nutrients. The bacterial production rate in the surface waters was about 7 times and over 50 times higher than that of the aphotic zone in the winter and the summer seasons, respectively. The surface heterotrophic microbial communities might have rapidly consumed the available labile DOM, with the production of more refractory DOM limiting bacterial production in aphotic layers. The greater number of CRAM-like formulas determined in the surface waters compared to other depths supports our hypothesis. The refractory DOM sequestered in the water column may either be exported into sediments attached to particulate matter and marine gels, or may escape into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide/monoxide during the photochemical oxidation pathways, suggesting that it is involved in climate change scenarios.

The Norwegian coastline covers more than 10° in latitude and provides a range in abiotic and biotic conditions for seaweed farming. In this study, we compared the effects of cultivation depth and season on the increase in biomass (frond length and biomass yield), chemical composition (protein, tissue nitrogen, intracellular nitrate and ash content) and biofouling (total cover and species composition) of cultivated Saccharina latissima at nine locations along a latitudinal gradient from 58 to 69° N. The effects of light and temperature on frond length and biofouling were evaluated along with their relevance for selecting optimal cultivation sites. Growth was greater at 1–2 m than at 8–9 m depth and showed large differences among locations, mainly in relation to local salinity levels. Maximum frond lengths varied between 15 and 100 cm, and maximum biomass yields between 0.2 and 14 kg m−2. Timing of maximum frond length and biomass yield varied with latitude, peaking 5 and 8 weeks later in the northern location (69° N) than in the central (63° N) and southern (58° N) locations, respectively. The nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor (averaged across all locations and depths) was 3.8, while protein content varied from 22 to 109 mg g−1 DW, with seasonality and latitude having the largest effect. The onset of biofouling also followed a latitudinal pattern, with a delayed onset in northern locations and at freshwater-influenced sites. The dominant epibiont was the bryozoan Membranipora membranacea. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of S. latissima cultivation along a wide latitudinal gradient in North Atlantic waters and underscore the importance of careful site selection for seaweed aquaculture.

The objective of the current study was to determine the extent to which planktonic sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis Krøyer, 1838 and Caligus elongatus Nordmann, 1832) were present in the biofouling on open-sea net pens used for commercial rearing of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.), and to assess if biofouling organisms on nets act as barriers similar to salmon lice skirts. We have examined two possible interactions of biofouling and planktonic sea lice, the first was if biofouling could function as a microhabitat for planktonic sea lice, with resuspension of sea lice during net cleaning operations. The second interaction was if biofouling may cause a retaining effect on the transport of planktonic stages out of the net pen. These interactions were investigated at different commercial salmon farms. With only one sea louse found among the biofouling on nets and cleaner fish shelters, we found no indication that sea lice utilized biofouling as a reservoir. This was further supported by the lack of impact on the proportion of samples with sea lice and the average density of sea lice in the water following the release of biofouling material during in situ net cleaning. Furthermore, the presence of biofouling had no effect on the proportion of samples with sea lice or the average density of planktonic sea lice in the net pens. The presence of a lice skirt resulted, however, in a significantly higher proportion of samples with planktonic sea lice inside the net pen in one of the two sites utilizing lice skirts. The results of our study suggested that the presence of biofouling has no influence on the average density and proportion of samples with planktonic stages of sea lice and that planktonic sea lice do not inhabit biofouling. Copyright © 2020 Jevne, Øvrelid, Hagemann, Bloecher, Steinhovden, Båtnes, Olsen and Reitan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms

With the increasing interest and activities regarding seaweed cultivation in Europe, it is becoming crucial to utilize the opportunities that lies within environmental resources, such as light and nutrients, to produce biomass of a high yield and quality. The chemical composition of seaweed varies between seasons and depths as an effect of resource supply and environmental conditions. These factors are particularly important to assess for economically feasible species like the kelp Saccharina latissima. This paper examines how differences in light conditions and nutrient availability affect the growth and intracellular nitrogen in S. latissima. This was done through cultivating sporophytes in land-based tanks with four different combinations of high/low light and high/low nutrient supply over an experimental period of 20 days, with measurements of growth rate and subsequent analysis of tissue nitrogen metabolites. The results revealed that the mean growth rate and the intracellular nitrogen components of the sporophytes were positively related to the external nitrate concentration during the experimental period, indicating that S. latissima requires high nutrient concentration to maintain a rapid growth. Copyright © 2020 Jevne, Forbord and Olsen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Domestication of Salmo salar has imposed strong selection for production traits since the 1970s. The domestication has also imposed a radical shift in diet. Whereas wild salmon eats invertebrates, crustaceans and fish, the dietary lipids in domestic feed has since 1990 gradually shifted from fish oil (FO) to vegetable oil (VO), causing a decrease intake of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA). We tested the hypothesis that this shift has induced domestication-specific features of lipid metabolism in a 96-day feeding trial of domesticated and wild salmon fed diets based on FO, VO or phospholipids (PL). We addressed this by sampling tissues central in fat uptake (pyloric caeca) and processing (liver) and quantifying RNA expression and fatty acid composition. Domesticated salmon grew faster than wild salmon, with higher gene expression in glucose and lipid metabolism pathways. The promoters of differentially expressed genes were enriched for transcription factors involved in circadian clock regulation. Domesticated salmon had lower expression of cry2 and nr1d1, genes involved in negative regulation of circadian rhythm, with possible implications for the diurnal cycle of feed ingestion and basal metabolic rate. Only wild salmon showed a significant impact on growth of VO versus PL or FO feed, whereas domesticated but not wild salmon upregulated key LC-PUFA synthesis genes fads2d5 and fads2d6a in response to VO diet. Domesticated salmon had higher LC-PUFA but lower 18:3n-3 and 18:2n-6 in liver when fed VO, suggesting that domesticated salmon can better compensate for dietary shortage of LC-PUFA compared to wild salmon.

Chilean salmon farms release inorganic nutrients excreted by the fish into the surrounding water in Patagonian fjords. The objective of this experiment from the Comau Fjord (42.2° S) in southern Chile was to study how increased input of ammonium (NH4) and phosphate (PO4) from salmon farms might affect the community structure of bacteria in surface waters where fish farms are located. We used microcosms (35 l) with NH4-N and PO4-P added to the natural seawater in a gradient of nutrient-loading rates, with the same N:P ratio as in salmon aquaculture effluents. Additionally, we measured bacterial community structure at different depths in the Comau Fjord to assess the natural variation to compare with our experiment. We used denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) to create 16S rDNA fingerprints of the bacterial communities and monitored biological and environmental variables (chlorophyll a, inorganic nutrients, pH, microbial abundance). The nutrient-loading rate had a significant impact on the bacterial community structure, and the community dissimilarity between low and high nutrient additions was up to 78%. Of the measured environmental variables, phytoplankton abundance and increased pH from photosynthesis had a significant effect. We observed no significant changes in bacterial diversity, which remained at the same level as in the unmanipulated community. Thus, the bacterial community of the fjord was not resistant, but resilient within the time frame and nutrient gradient of our experiment. © The authors 2017. Open Access under Creative Commons by Attribution Licence. Use, distribution and reproduction are unrestricted. Authors and original publication must be credited.

The quality and relative amounts of dietary lipids may affect the health and growth of cultured Atlantic salmon. So far, little is known about their effects on the performance of the fish immune system during early life stages and, in particular their importance in the transition from endogenous nutrition (yolk) in the alevin stage to exogenous nutrition in the later fry stage. We investigated the immunomodulatory effects of fish oil, vegetable oil and phospholipid-rich oil in feeds for farmed Atlantic salmon using a transcriptomic approach. The experiment allowed a fine-scale monitoring of gene expression profiles in two tissues, the pyloric caeca of the intestine and the liver, in a 94 days-long first feeding experiment. The analysis of transcriptional profiles revealed that first feeding induced a strong immunomodulation in the pyloric caeca after 48 days of feeding, lasting up to day 94 and possibly beyond. On the other hand, the differential effect of the three dietary regimes was negligible. We interpret this upregulation, undetectable in liver, as a potentiation of the immune system upon the first contact of the digestive system with exogenous feed. This process involved a complex network of gene products involved in both cellular and humoral immunity. We identified the classical pathway of the complement system, acting at the crossroads between innate and adaptive immunity, as a key process modulated in response to the switch from endogenous to exogenous nutrition. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material.

Factors affecting the establishment of the gut microbiota in animals living in marine environments remain largely unknown. In terrestrial animals, however, it is well established that the juvenile environment has a major impact on the gut microbiota later in life. Atlantic salmon Salmo salar is an anadromous fish important in aquaculture with a juvenile freshwater stage and an adult seawater stage. For wild salmon, there are major dietary changes with respect to availability of long-chain polyunsaturated n-3 fatty acids (LC-n-3 PUFA) with lower abundance in freshwater systems. The aim of our work was therefore to determine the effect of a juvenile freshwater diet with high LC-n-3 PUFA, as compared to a diet low in LC-n-3 PUFA (designed to increase the endogenous LC-n-3 PUFA production), on the transition to a seawater gut microbiota for Atlantic salmon. We found a juvenile freshwater microbiota high in Firmicutes for fish raised with low LC-n-3 PUFA, while the microbiota for fish given high LC-n-3 PUFA feed was high in Proteobacteria. One hundred days after transfer to a common sea cage, fish that were given low LC-n-3 PUFA diets in freshwater showed significantly higher (p = 0.02, Kruskal-Wallis) Mycoplasma content (90 ± 7%; mean ± SD) compared to fish raised on a high LC-n-3 PUFA diet in freshwater (25 ± 31% Mycoplasma). Shotgun metagenome sequencing from fish raised with a low LC-n-3 PUFA diet identified a salmon-associated Mycoplasma in sea, being distinct from currently known Mycoplasma. The genome sequence information indicated a mutualistic lifestyle of this bacterium. Mycoplasma has also previously been identified as dominant (>70%) in sea-living adult Atlantic salmon. Taken together, our results suggest that the juvenile freshwater diet influences the establishment of the gut microbiota in marine Atlantic salmon. 2019 Open Access. CC-BY 4.0

Juvenile scallops of Pecten maxiumus were studied to see the capability to clear out and incorporate salmon feed and feces (30 µg L-1). Algae were also given, in a low and high concentration in addition to feed and faeces, to mimic a winter and summer situation in Norwegian waters. Rhodomonas baltica and Chaetoseris muelleri were provided in a concentration of 50 µg L-1 and 300 µg L-1. The feeding trial lasted for 27 days. Clearance rate was measured to study filtration characteristics, while fatty acid profiling and stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon were used to trace the uptake of salmon feed and feces in the digestive gland and muscle of juvenile scallops (30–35 mm shell height). The results show that the scallops could clear out and retain both salmon feed and feces particles, although at a statistically lower clearance rate than the algae. Fatty acid profiling revealed that the scallops assimilated and incorporated the consumed salmon feed and feces, given with either high or low algae concentrations, in their tissues, where the fatty acid C18:1n9 was used as a tracer fatty acid. The digestive gland of the scallops that were fed salmon feed and feces contained a higher share of C18:1n9 than those that were only fed algae. The digestive gland reflected the fatty acid composition of the diet, while the fatty acid composition of the muscle, which also changed, reflected a more complex relation between diet and metabolic processes in the tissue. The use of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to trace food sources was inconclusive in this study due to low differences between samples fed different feeds. Fatty acid profiling was a more sensitive method for tracing low concentrations of salmon feed and feces in the algae diet of scallops. Our results suggest that P. maximus could be a candidate for integrated multi trophic aquaculture (IMTA) and that scallops have the potential to utilize small particles of wasted salmon feed and feces during a winter situation with low phytoplankton concentration and during an algal bloom in Norwegian waters. Copyright © 2019 Bergvik, Stensås, Handå, Reitan, Strand and Olsen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)

Aquaculture has the potential to become a major food supplier in a world with an increasing human population, and increased consumption of fish will likely have positive health implications. For marine aquaculture, the production of high quality juveniles is a bottleneck. Survival until the juvenile stage is typically as low as 10–15% for many species, which indicates suboptimal rearing conditions. Substantial evidence indicates that the poor performance and viability of larvae is largely due to detrimental larvae-microbiota interactions. This emphasises the need for microbial management strategies in the cultivation of marine fish larvae. Disinfection and probiotics are the most studied microbial management methods so far. However, most studies on these methods overlooked the role of mutualistic relationships between microbes and hosts, and have not proposed or examined methods steering toward such relationships. Based on ecological theory and a number of experiments, we find support for the hypothesis that current practise in aquaculture generally selects for r-strategic, opportunistic microbes, which results in detrimental host–microbiota interactions. Thus, the challenge is to develop technology and methods for microbial management at the ecosystem level that creates a K-selected microbial community, and by this mean select against r-strategic opportunists. Here we summarise experiments done during 25 years and with marine larvae of five different species showing that: (1) K-selection strategies result in different water microbiota with less opportunists, (2) this influences the microbiota of the fish larvae, and (3) the larvae cultivated in water inhabited by a K-selected microbiota perform better. Improved performance of larvae includes improved appetite, earlier onset of and faster growth, increased survival, and increased robustness to stress. K-selection as a method for management of the microbial community is a robust approach that allows steering of host–microbiota interactions in larviculture toward mutualism. It could also be applicable for young stages of other domesticated animals. Our review illustrates that a change from a “beat-them” to a “join-them” strategy for microbial management in larval rearing can lead to a more sustainable aquaculture industry. Copyright © 2018 Vadstein, Attramadal, Bakke and Olsen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)

Mass production of copepod eggs in intensive systems has recently been demonstrated to be economically feasible; a few companies producing copepod eggs have been established. It is well documented that water physiochemical variables could significantly influence the hatching success of Acartia tonsa Dana, 1849 (Copepoda: Calanoida) eggs. This information is important to end users in order to achieve a predictable output of nauplii when hatching eggs for live feed production in marine larviculture. The effect of different wavelengths and intensities of light on the 48-h egg hatching success (HS) of fresh and cold-stored (2 °C) A. tonsa eggs were examined in the present study. No correlations were observed between HS and light environment for fresh or cold eggs when they were hatched at wavelengths between 400 and 630 nm and at light intensities of 0.0016, 1, 5 and 16 µE m−2 s−1. Fresh eggs displayed the highest HS and declined with the time of storage. However, eggs being of same age showed a similar HS regardless of the light intensity and wavelength, including when hatched in darkness. We suggest that A. tonsa eggs produced in intensive cultures can be hatched without any concern to the light environment.

The mechanism of essentiality of dietary phospholipid (PL) for larval fish is not clear. The main objective of the present study was to determine if the PL requirement of Atlantic cod larvae was due to any genetic impairment caused by functional immaturity. Cod larvae were sampled at 1, 3, 8, 13, 17, 18, 30, 42 and 60 days post hatch (dph) for transcriptome analysis using a recently developed microarray. The fatty acid profile and gene expression levels of cod larvae at 17 dph were compared after feeding differently enriched rotifers, which contained different DHA levels in PL. No significant differences (p

We have previously shown that K-selection and microbial stability in the rearing water increases survival and growth of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) larvae, and that recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are compatible with this. Here, we have assessed how water treatment influenced the larval microbiota and host responses at the gene expression level. Cod larvae were reared with two different rearing water systems: a RAS and a flow-through system (FTS). The water microbiota was examined using a 16S rDNA PCR/DGGE strategy. RNA extracted from larvae at 8, 13, and 17 days post hatching was used for microbiota and microarray gene expression analysis. Bacterial cDNA was synthesized and used for 16S rRNA amplicon 454 pyrosequencing of larval microbiota. Both water and larval microbiota differed significantly between the systems, and the larval microbiota appeared to become more dissimilar between systems with time. In total 4 phyla were identified for all larvae: Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. The most profound difference in larval microbiota was a high abundance of Arcobacter (Epsilonproteobacteria) in FTS larvae (34 ± 9% of total reads). Arcobacter includes several species that are known pathogens for humans and animals. Cod larval transcriptome responses were investigated using an oligonucleotide gene expression microarray covering approximately 24,000 genes. Interestingly, FTS larvae transcriptional profiles revealed an overrepresentation of upregulated transcripts associated with responses to pathogens and infections, such as c1ql3-like, pglyrp-2-like and zg16, compared to RAS larvae. In conclusion, distinct water treatment systems induced differences in the larval microbiota. FTS larvae showed up-regulation of transcripts associated with responses to microbial stress. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that RAS promotes K-selection and microbial stability by maintaining a microbial load close to the carrying capacity of the system, and ensuring long retention times for both bacteria and water in the system. Copyright © 2018 Vestrum, Attramadal, Winge, Li, Olsen, Bones, Vadstein and Bakke. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

In salmon farming, the scarcity of fish oil has driven a shift towards the use of plant-based oil from vegetable or seed, leading to fish feed low in long-chain PUFA (LC-PUFA) and cholesterol. Atlantic salmon has the capacity to synthesise both LC-PUFA and cholesterol, but little is known about the regulation of synthesis and how it varies throughout salmon life span. Here, we present a systemic view of lipid metabolism pathways based on lipid analyses and transcriptomic data from salmon fed contrasting diets of plant or fish oil from first feeding. We analysed four tissues (stomach, pyloric caeca, hindgut and liver) at three life stages (initial feeding 0·16 g, 2·5 g fingerlings and 10 g juveniles). The strongest response to diets higher in plant oil was seen in pyloric caeca of fingerlings, with up-regulation of thirty genes in pathways for cholesterol uptake, transport and biosynthesis. In juveniles, only eleven genes showed differential expression in pyloric caeca. This indicates a higher requirement of dietary cholesterol in fingerlings, which could result in a more sensitive response to plant oil. The LC-PUFA elongation and desaturation pathway was down-regulated in pyloric caeca, probably regulated bysrebp1genes. In liver, cholesterol metabolism and elongation and desaturation genes were both higher on plant oil. Stomach and hindgut were not notably affected by dietary treatment. Plant oil also had a higher impact on fatty acid composition of fingerlings compared with juveniles, suggesting that fingerlings have less metabolic regulatory control when primed with plant oil diet compared with juveniles.

Combining a minimum food web model with Arctic microbial community dynamics, we have suggested that top-down control by copepods can affect the food web down to bacterial consumption of organic carbon. Pursuing this hypothesis further, we used the minimum model to design and analyse a mesocosm experiment, studying the effect of high (+Z) and low (-Z) copepod density on resource allocation, along an organic-C addition gradient. In the Arctic, both effects are plausible due to changes in advection patterns (affecting copepods) and meltwater inputs (affecting carbon). The model predicts a trophic cascade from copepods via ciliates to flagellates, which was confirmed experimentally. Auto- and heterotrophic flagellates affect bacterial growth rate and abundance via competition for mineral nutrients and predation, respectively. In +Z, the model predicts low bacterial abundance and activity, and little response to glucose; as opposed to clear glucose consumption effects in –Z. We observed a more resilient bacterial response to high copepods and demonstrate this was due to changes in bacterial community equitability. Species able to use glucose to improve their competitive and/or defensive properties, became predominant. The observed shift from a SAR11-to a Psychromonodaceae – dominated community suggests the latter was pivotal in this modification of ecosystem function. We argue that this group used glucose to improve its defensive or its competitive abilities (or both). Adding such flexibility in bacterial traits to the model, we show how it creates the observed resilience to top-down manipulations observed in our experiment. © The Author(s) 2018. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recent studies have shown that fish larvae require not only a certain quantitative amount of dietary phospholipid (PL) in their feed, but they also depend on the quality of the dietary PL, and their docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) content is particularly important for normal growth and functional development. The most commonly used live feeds in aquaculture, rotifers (Brachionus sp.) and brine shrimp (Artemia sp.), do not contain adequate amounts of DHA in their PL. Therefore, there is an emerging need to learn more on how PL of live feed organisms can be efficiently enriched. In this chapter, we discussed the factors that could affect the enrichment of DHA in PL of live feed and suggested some strategies that could increase the DHA levels in PL of rotifers. The mechanism behind the PL requirement of fish larvae is not well understood and the overall objective of our studies has been to obtain more knowledge of ontogenesis of PL synthesis capability of early stages of Atlantic cod Gadus morhua. Transcriptome analysis of larvae in different stages was carried out using microarray, to evaluate the effect of development on the expression of key genes of PL biosynthesis. Moreover, labeled lipid precursors were tube fed to cod larvae to evaluate their capacity of PL synthesis. The larvae showed relatively high biosynthesis ability of PL compared to neutral lipids. Our overall data suggested that besides the possible limited de novo PL synthesis ability in the intestine, other metabolic constraints should also be considered.

BackgroundIt has been suggested that the high phospholipid (PL) requirement in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fry is due to insufficient intestinal de-novo synthesis causing low lipoprotein (LP) production and reduced transport capacity of dietary lipids. However, there has not been performed any in-depth ontological analysis of intestinal PL and LP synthesis with development of salmon. Therefore in this paper we used RNA-seq technology to test the hypothesis that the high PL requirement in salmon fry was associated with undeveloped PL synthesis and LP formation pathways in intestine. There was a special focus on the understanding homologous genes, especially from salmonid-specific fourth vertebrate whole-genome duplication (Ss4R), contribution to salmonid specific features of regulation of PL metabolic pathways. The study was performed in stomach, pyloric caeca and hindgut at 0.16g (1 day before first-feeding), 2.5g and 10g of salmon.ResultsIn general, we found an up-regulation of de-novo phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) synthesis, phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) and LP formation pathways in pyloric caeca of salmon between 0.16g and 10g. Thirteen genes in these pathways were highly (qqConclusionsAn increasing capacity for PL synthesis and LP formation was confirmed in pyloric caeca. The up-regulation of the de-novo PtdCho pathway confirms that the salmon fry have increasing requirement for dietary PtdCho compared to adult. The similar expressions between Ss4R homologous genes suggest that the functional divergence of these genes was incomplete compared to homologs derived from other whole genome duplication. The results of the present study have provided new information on the molecular mechanisms of phospholipid synthesis and lipoprotein formation in fish.

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) has the potential of reducing open-cage fish farming impacts on the environment while also introducing new value chains. The aim of this study was to investigate the growth and composition of the kelp Saccharina latissima in salmon-driven IMTA, and to assess the spatial extent of the influence of salmon derived nitrogen in order to evaluate the upscaling potential for IMTA. S. latissima was cultivated 100, 200, and 1,000 m east and 1,000 m west of a 5,000 tons salmon farm in Western Norway from February to September 2013. The proportion of salmon derived nitrogen available for the kelp showed a clear decline with distance from the farm. Accordingly, the kelp cultivated near the salmon cages grew faster during the spring season, and growth rate decreased with increasing distance from the farm. A spatially explicit numerical model system (SINMOD), including compartments for dissolved nutrients and kelp growth, was tuned to the field data and used to investigate the potential for upscaling IMTA production. The model was used to introduce a new metric—the impacted area IA—for the areal effects of IMTA in terms of the increase in production by IMTA. The model showed that a 25 hectare kelp farm in the vicinity of the studied salmon farm could take up 1.6 of the 13.5 tons of dissolved inorganic nitrogen released during kelp cultivation, amounting to almost 12% of the ammonia released during the cultivation period from February to June. The 25 hectare kelp farm would have a production yield of 1,125 tons fresh weight (FW), being 60% more than that of a non-IMTA kelp farm, while a 20% increase of kelp FW could be obtained over a 110 hectar area in salmon-driven IMTA. To achieve an even mass balance, an area of approximately 220 ha−1 would be needed to cultivate enough kelp to fix an equivalent of the nitrogen released by the fish. Copyright © 2018 Fossberg, Forbord, Broch, Malzahn, Jansen, Handå, Førde, Bergvik, Fleddum, Skjermo and Olsen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).

An increasing number of studies suggest that DHA associated with dietary phospholipid (PL) is better metabolically available for fish larvae. Knowledge on how to increase DHA levels in the major PL classes of the live feed is needed. Brachionus Cayman was cultured in conical fibreglass vessels, enriched with commonly used commercial diet Multigain or DHA Selco (DSelco) in flat bottom vessels at 20 °C. The changes of DHA content in the PL of the rotifers through enrichment and through a starvation phase post-enrichment were investigated in order to define an appropriate enrichment time and to test the stability of DHA post-enrichment. The different dietary non-HUFA (non-highly unsaturated fatty acid) composition of DSelco (25.1% SFA, 32.1% MUFA) and Multigain (40.7% SFA, 2.11% MUFA) allowed an evaluation on how SFA and MUFA might affect the efficiency of DHA enrichment of phospholipid in the rotifers. Rotifer samples were collected at 0 h, 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 12 h and 24 h after initiation of enrichment. Total lipid (TL) and the fatty acid composition in TL, phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) of rotifers and enrichment diets were analysed. The highest DHA levels in PC (23.0%) and PE (16.5%) in Cayman were found after 24 h enrichment with Multigain, and levels were far higher than obtained earlier. The enriched DHA was stable at 10 °C for at least 24 h post-enrichment under starving conditions ( p > 0.05), whereas a significant ( p Statement of relevance The paper is bringing information about fatty acid enrichment of rotifers in questions that are so far quite unclear and could have a strong impact on larviculture of marine fish larvae. This study shows methods to obtain high level of DHA in phospholipids of rotifer. The results could potentially have a significant impact to improve current fatty acid enrichment protocols for rotifers.

The effects of light and short-term temperature elevation on the 48-h egg hatching success (HS) of cold-stored (2 °C) Acartia tonsa Dana (Copepoda: Calanoida) eggs were examined in the present study. The eggs can be stored for up to 7.5 months and maintain their high hatching rate under optimal conditions. Intensively produced eggs from the copepod A. tonsa may be hatched and used as an inoculum for producing copepod nauplii as live feed for fish larvae. The HS for eggs that were directly exposed to LED light declined rapidly after 1 month of storage (from 91 to 25 %), and these eggs did not hatch at all after 3 months of storage. The highest HS found was for eggs stored in complete darkness. The HS for eggs stored in normoxic (≥7 mg DO L−1) and anoxic (≤0.03 mg DO L−1) seawater was not affected by short-term temperature transitions from 2 °C up to 9 or 17 °C for a period of 12 or 24 h, when hatched 1 week post-exposure. The global mean HS for eggs stored in normoxic seawater was 85.9 % and significantly lower compared to eggs stored under anoxic conditions after 3 weeks of storage (91.8 %) (P = 0.001; SNK).

The main objective was to study time kinetics of change in important highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) in phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) of Artemia franciscana nauplii and juveniles following enrichment and subsequent starvation. Samples of Artemia nauplii were taken at variable times (0.5–24 h) following enrichment and starvation. Samples of Artemia juveniles were taken after 2, 3 and 4 days of cultivation. No docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was found in PC and PE of Artemia nauplii during the first hour of enrichment, while a significant (P

We combined data from an outdoor mesocosm experiment with carbon budget modelling and an ecological network analysis to assess the effects of continuous nutrient additions on the structural and functional dynamics of a marine planktonic ecosystem. The food web receiving no nutrient additions was fuelled by detritus, as zooplankton consumed 7.2 times more detritus than they consumed algae. Nutrient supply instantly promoted herbivory so that it was comparable to detritivory at the highest nutrient addition rate. Nutrient-induced food web restructuring reduced carbon cycling and decreased the average number of compartments a unit flow of carbon crosses before dissipation. Also, the efficiency of copepod production, the link to higher trophic levels harvestable by man, was lowered up to 35 times by nutrient addition, but showed signs of recovery after 9 to 11 days. The dependency of the food web on exogenous input was not changed by the nutrient additions.