4 results

Assessment of the Inflamark method as a sensitive and cost-effective measure of oxidative stress in cultured fish

Project number: 2017-206
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $156,177.11
Principal Investigator: Gavin J. Partridge
Organisation: Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) WA
Project start/end date: 26 Feb 2019 - 29 Jun 2020
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Need

An indicator of oxidative/metabolic stress in fish has long been sought after as a means of providing a simple measure of health and as a tool for assessing the outcomes of research trials including those on diet formulations. The FRDC have invested heavily in health & nutrition research, yet a simple, sensitive and cost effective method of assessing health following such trials is still lacking. Most analytical methods such as haematology, blood biochemistry, flow cytometry, histology and bacterial challenges all have limitations in terms of sensitivity, repeatability, cost and simplicity.

Inflamark has potential to be developed into a rapid, point-of-care device that could be used on-farm as well as in research trials. There is a need to validate its usefulness as a diagnostic tool in commercially relevant farmed fish species prior to its development as a routine diagnostic tool.

Objectives

1. Optimise field methods to ensure blood is collected and preserved appropriately for shipment and analysis
2. Determine the range of baseline oxidative stress values for healthy and moribund fish from four species across the full range of sizes and culture temperatures under commercial growout conditions.
3. Obtain data from fish in various FRDC and industry funded research projects investigating health and nutrition.

Final report

ISBN: 978-0-6486988-1-4
Authors: Dr Catherine D. Wingate Dr Peter G. Arthur and Dr Gavin J. Partridge
Final Report • 2021-12-01 • 1.74 MB
2017-206-DLD.pdf

Summary

This collaborative project between industry and academia was developed in response to the need for a reliable and simple measurement of fish health status in farmed populations as well as in a research context, to assess the outcomes of trials on health, nutrition and environment. We have developed a tool to measure physiological/oxidative stress in aquaculture species.

Adding value to seafood processing waste through the recovery of bioactive molecules

Project number: 2012-207
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $561,962.44
Principal Investigator: Simone Osborne
Organisation: CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory
Project start/end date: 14 Jun 2012 - 3 Aug 2014
:

Need

Commercial in confidence. To know more about this project please contact FRDC.

Objectives

Commercial in confidence

Movement, habitat utilisation and population status of the endangered Maugean skate and implications for fishing and aquaculture operations in Macquarie Harbour

Project number: 2013-008
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $263,825.01
Principal Investigator: Jeremy Lyle
Organisation: University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Project start/end date: 30 Jun 2013 - 30 Oct 2015
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Need

Little is known about the life history of the endangered Maugean skate but it does appear to have a very restricted distributional range (Macquarie and Bathurst Harbours, the latter a marine protected area) and in all likelihood a small population size.

The expansion of marine farming in Macquarie Harbour represents a key element of the salmonid industry’s plan to significantly increase Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout production in Tasmania. In considering the planning application, the MFPRP identified that research is required to more properly understand the ecological effects of the proposed farming operations, including potential impacts on the Maugean skate. Key research priorities identified by the MFPRP were the need to describe distribution, abundance and general ecology of the species, such information being a precursor to determining the nature of interactions with marine farming operations. Furthermore, the Panel noted the need to better understand the potential effects on the Maugean skate of efforts to recover escapees through fish-down using gillnets. This concern links to the more general population risk posed by gillnetting, noting that skate are taken incidentally in commercial and recreational gillnets and that gillnetting activity is strongly associated with targeting of escapees.

By employing acoustic tracking and non-destructive biological sampling techniques, this project will provide the science to understand the nature of interactions between fishing and aquaculture activities and the Maugean skate as well as enhancing our knowledge about its conservation status. Through such understanding it will be possible to evaluate risk and develop strategies to manage interactions and, where necessary, implement measures to mitigate negative impacts on the skate.

This proposal addresses RD&E priorities relevant to understanding the impacts of aquaculture due to expansion as well as mitigating the impacts of fishing on threatened, endangered and protected species.

Objectives

1. Determine the distribution, habitat utilisation and movement of the Maugean skate in Macquarie Harbour.
2. Determine the key biological characteristics of Maugean skate, including population size, reproductive dynamics and feeding habits.
3. Describe the spatial and temporal dispersal patterns of salmonid escapees in Macquarie Harbour.
4. Assess the potential impacts of current and proposed marine farming operations on the Maugean skate population.
5. Evaluate strategies to reduce the probability of encountering Maugean skate whilst fishing (gillnetting) for escapees.
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