Digital library

  • Abalone is one of the most highly prized seafoods in the world. Over ten species of alalone are cultured in the world with shell colors from white, brown, red, green, and dark brown-red (black). Big Island Abalone Corporation (BIAC) cultures Ezo mainly for Japan's or Asian markets.

    Author(s): Zhi Yong Ju, Ph. D.
  • For rapid growth and appropriate pigmentation,Porphyra requires the constant availability of nutrients, especially in summer when temperate waters are generally nutrient depleted. Cultivation near salmon cages allows the alleviation of this seasonal depletion by using the significant loading of fishf arms, which is then valued (wastes become fertilisers) and managed (competition for nutrients between desirable algal crops and problem species associated with severe disturbances). Porphyra,being an extremely efficient nutrient pump, is an excellent candidate for integrated aquaculture for bioremediation and economic diversification. Frequent harvesting provides for constant removal of significant quantities of nutrients from coastal waters, and for production of seaweeds of commercial value. The production of P. yezoensis being limited in the Gulf of Maine, an assessment of the potential of seven native north-west Atlantic Porphyra species is presently in progress. To enable the production of conchospores for net seeding, the phenology of these species and the conditions for their vegetative conchocelis exponential growth, conchosporangium induction, and conchospore maturation were determined. The development of integrated aquaculture systems is a positive initiative for optimising the efficiency of aquaculture operations, while maintaining the health of coastal waters.

    Author(s): Yarish, Charles Arthur C. Mathieson, Shan Lu, Ellen Belyea, Robert J. Wilkes, Thierry Chopin
  • Traditionally, the ocean economy is viewed solely as a mechanism for economic growth. In this business-as-usual approach, large-scale industrial economies have developed the ocean economy by exploiting maritime and marine resources, often without considering how those activities impact the future health or productivity of those same resources. This has led to marine ecosystems being viewed and treated as limitless resources; the marine environment becoming a dumping ground for waste; overfishing diminishing fishing stocks; ocean habi- tats being degraded from coastal developments; sea-level rise impacting coastal communities and infrastructure; increasing ocean acidification; and the marginalisation of poor coastal communities. 

    In response, there is a transition underway worldwide towards the blue economy, which views economic development and ocean health as complementary to one another. In the blue economy, the environ- mental risks of and ecological degradation from economic activity are mitigated or significantly reduced. Therefore, economic activity balances the ocean ecosystems’ long-term capacity to support this activity and remain healthy and resilient.1,2 

    Despite recognising the benefits of the blue economy, the concept has yet to be mainstreamed worldwide for various reasons. For instance, while our scientific knowledge of the oceans, including coastal processes, fisheries science, marine biology, and so forth, are well developed, there is a lack of understanding on how best to develop and implement tech- nologies, investment strategies, and interdisciplinary partnerships that enhance synergies and reduce trade-offs between sectors in the develop- ment of a blue economy. There are many cases of initiatives worldwide that ignore blue economy concepts, even when they are obvious and proven to be beneficial to humans and nature.3,4,5 

    As such, there is a need for innovative policies, technologies, and financing tools to accelerate the transition towards a blue economy that is low-carbon, efficient, and clean with its growth driven by investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution; protect and restore blue carbon ecosystems; enhance the resilience of vulnerable coastal commu- nities; enhance food security and nutrition; and promote sustainable economic growth opportunities.6,7 

    Palgrave macmillan

    Author(s): Robert C. Brears
  • The primary objectives of the Eelgrass Habitat Suitability Index Model (EHSI Model) are to assist in the evaluation of sites being considered for eelgrass restoration efforts in the Long Island Sound (LIS) area and to identify areas where water quality issues reduce or eliminate the potential for natural eelgrass colonization. To achieve this goal, geospatial processing of data available from the Long Island Sound area was conducted using ArcGIS v10.0 including the 3D Analyst and Spatial Analyst extensions. The result is a series of maps presented in this report and a GIS-based model available for users to interact with the results and formulations of the model.

    Author(s): Yarish, Charles Lorne Brousseau, Jamie Vaudrey, Justin Eddings, Chris Pickerell
  • We developed a non-fish meal diet using plant and/or animal protein materials. Threekinds of non-fish meal diets and a control diet containing 50% fish meal were processed. In the non-fish meal diets, the fish meal was replaced with commercially available plant or animal materialsand supplemented with taurine and materials for maintaining palatability. These diets were fedto one year old yellowtail (BW 753±96g) in net cages. There wasno difference in growth, dailyweight gain, daily feeding rate, feed conversion ratio and protein efficiency ratio among the diets.Non-fish meal diets were processed in a factory and dietary properties were studied such asuptake, stomach evacuation rate, and comparative disease resistance in fish fed the experimentaldiets. In addition, palatability of each substitute protein material for fish was examined andmaterials to enhance palatability of the non-fish meal diets were clarified. Non-fish meal diets havethe potential to support the growth of one year old yellowtail.

    Author(s): Shuichi SATOH, Minoru SATOH, Satoshi KATAYAMA, Koji MAENO, Tatsuo TSUZAKI, Tomohiko KOSHIISHI, Noriko ISHIDA
  • A variety of lung diseases such as emphysema, infections, and lung cancers as well as lung injury from trauma, including battlefield trauma, and complications of respirator life support of critically ill patients in intensive care units can result in lung collapse that can be immediately life-threatening or result in chronic leaking of air or fluid out of the lung. These remain challenging medical problems for which few good options are currently available and result in significant morbidity, mortality, hospital stays, health care costs, and other complications. New options are thus desperately needed. We are developing a novel approach to provide an easy-to-apply lung sealant which can repair lung leaks. This initially involved use of a chemically modified form of alginate, a naturally occurring seaweed derivative, increasingly being explored for a variety of biomedical applications. Particular attributes include easy availability, low cost, easy use, biodegradability, and lack of significant toxicity. In the studies to date, we have done extensive materials characterization not just of modified alginates but now a number of other biologic compounds that also have potential as pleural sealants. We have further extensively evaluated promising compounds using small rodent and large pig ex vivo lung models and have performed initial in vivo evaluations of several compounds in a non-survival surgery rat lung injury model. The studies to date have thus identified several promising compounds that will be further evaluated in the non-survival surgery and also a survival surgery rat lung injury model during the 6 month extension period of the grant. These will lead to a firm platform for further investigations in large animal survival surgery models and subsequent discussions with the FDA about new IND for a clinical investigation.

    Author(s): Daniel J. Weiss
  • Land-based seaweed (Gracilaria) cultivation systems may provide products with high quality and biosafety for human consumption, as well as for other high value applications. However, a limitation for this land based system is high management costs. The objective of this study was to determine if the management costs for Gracilaria cultivation can be reduced without a decrease in productivity by using CO2 injection along with a high stocking density and high photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and commercially available fertilizers. When Gracilaria tikvahiae was cultivated at a high stocking density and high PAR, coupled with CO2 enhancement, the productivity was significantly higher than that at a lower stocking density, low light without CO2 injection. We also found that G. tikvahiae grown in a medium of commercially available fertilizer (Jack's Special, JS) showed a similar growth rate and productivity to that grown in von Stosch's enriched (VSE) seawater, while the cost for JS media is only 2% of the cost for VSE. These results suggest that CO2 injection and commercial fertilizer may be a potential way to provide sustainability in land-based Gracilaria cultivation systems.

    Author(s): Yarish, Charles Jang K. Kim
  • A tide-simulating apparatus was developed for culturing marine macroalgae. The objective of this study was to introduce a novel tide-simulating apparatus that can simulate a diurnal or semi-diurnal tidal cycle in the laboratory. In this apparatus, the seaweeds are move up and down and the water level remains the same during the simulated tidal cycle. The apparatus consists of 18 cylindrical culture tanks (3 blocks × 6 culture tanks) with 12 cm diameter and 24.5 cm long containing up to 2.5 L of seawater. There is a horizontal plate which covered all 18 culture tanks, and it is raised and lowered by a programmable motor that can regulate exposure time. In one application, seaweeds are attached to braided twine hung on Plexiglas air-tubing. The air-tubing is attached to a lid that is set on a horizontal plate. This apparatus is made of colorless Plexiglas to maximize light transmittance. This apparatus is easily disassembled and transportable to any indoor laboratory, wet laboratory, greenhouse, etc. This apparatus also offers considerable flexibility in terms of design. The size of culture tank can be redesigned by either increasing the height of cylinder or/and using a different diameter of cylindrical Plexiglas, therefore, larger/taller thalli can be cultivated. Growth rates of three eulittoral Porphyra species from different tidal elevations have been compared using this device.

    Author(s):
  • An effective semi-continuous process was developed to grow a locally isolated green microalga Chlorella sp. on acidogenically digested swine wastewater in bench scale for improved algal biomass production and waste nutrient removal using central composite design (CCD). The influences of two key parameters, namely wastewater dilution rate (DR) and hydraulic retention time (HRT), on algal biomass productivity and nutrient removal rates were investigated. The optimal parameters estimated from the significant sec- ond-order quadratic models (p < 0.05) were 8-fold DR and 2.26-d HRT. The cultivating experiment in a bench-scale multi-layer photobioreactor with the optimized conditions achieved stable algal productivity and nutrient removal rates, which fitted the predictive models well. Moreover, relatively high and stable protein and lipid contents (58.78% and 26.09% of the dry weight, respectively) were observed for the col- lected algae sample, indicating the suitability of the algal biomass as ideal feedstock for both biofuel and feed production. 

    Author(s): Bing Hu, Wenguang Zhou, Min Min, Zhenyi Du, Paul Chen, Xiaochen Ma, Yuhuan Liu, Hanwu Lei, Jian Shi, Roger Ruan
  • We provide detailed rearing methods and describe green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) gonadal development and histological differentiation for both sexes. Developing in-depth aquaculture protocols and describing the gonadal differentiation of green sunfish could facilitate strategies to control nuisance populations, enhance stocking programs, and provide information for this species' use in bioassay trials or toxicology studies. Our methods resulted in consistent year-round production of green sunfish and allowed us to identify the timing of their gonadal differentiation through histological assessment. Our spawning methods provided year-round volitional spawns from green sunfish broodstock. Our rearing methods involved weaning larval green sunfish off live nauplii and onto only artificial diets by 37 days post-hatch (dph). Most of the offspring generation reached sexual maturity by 213 dph. Green sunfish are gonochoristic, with testes and ovaries differentiating directly from un- differentiated gonads. Ovaries begin to differentiate by 39 dph and testes begin to differentiate by 69 dph. This information can provide biologists consistent means to produce this Centrachid and understand their gonadal development.

    Author(s): Chad N. Teal, Daniel J. Schill , Susan B. Fogelson, Colby M. Roberts, Kevin Fitzsimmons, Scott A. Bonar

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