Fish farming under the microscope: How innovative technology helps to increase aquaculture productivity

by Andrew Monk, Co-founder and Director, ioLight Magnificent Mobile Microscopes, UK

The world population is growing rapidly. In fact, the United Nations estimates it will reach 11.2 billion by 2100, with approximately 83 million people being added to the world’s population every year. Feeding over 11 billion people is a huge concern, as it will put enormous strain on the earth’s ability to produce enough food. An answer to the future global food challenge may be through the use of sustainable fish farming.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation reports that the average amount of fish eaten per-capita globally has more than doubled from 9kg in 1961 to 20.2kg in 2015. Of course, there are well-publicised cases of overfishing.
 

However, much of this growth has been from aquaculture. In 2016, 46.8 percent of the fish we ate came from aquaculture, a rapid growth from just 25.7 percent in 2000. This data includes finfish, crustaceans and molluscs.

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector in the world and is considered a practical and sustainable method to produce food and bridge the gap between supply and demand.

However, aquaculture faces many challenges and one of the biggest is combating disease. For example, infectious disease is currently the single most devastating problem in shrimp culture and presents on-going threats to other aquaculture sectors. In addition, there is increasing concern over the consequences of newly emerging diseases in aquaculture.

As with any form of farming, growing large amounts of food in a small space increases the incidence of infection and disease, which can spread extremely rapidly through a stock of 90,000 fish confined to a pen.

For this reason, fish farms are looking for modern innovative methods to ensure that fish are kept healthy. Better disease control, feed and nutrition help to minimise losses and produce a high-quality product. If fish farming is the answer to a sustainable food source, rapid disease and parasite diagnosis, together with improved health management, will be key to increasing stock levels.

Large farms continuously monitor water, but there is no substitute for visually inspecting the fish, and early detection of small parasites requires a microscope. As part of a good health management plan, routine parasite and disease screening should be completed regularly.

Read more, HERE.

The Aquaculturists

---