New Zealand’s Pacific oysters die in large numbers

Millions of Pacific oysters are dying in New Zealand waters, scientist are puzzled, up to half the juvenile Pacific oysters stocks in the North Island are thought to have died and up to ten percent of adults. Aquaculture New Zealand said up to 80 per cent of juvenile oysters on some farms have died.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have called on animal health experts for scientific opinion on the widespread die offs of the Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas). Acting on a request from the European Commission, the EFSA has specifically asked whether the juvenile stocks may have been killed off by a combination of a herpes-like virus - Ostreid Herpesvirus-1 (OsHV-1) - and environmental factors. Read more...


This blog is written by Martin Little The Aquaculturists, published and supported by the International Aquafeed Magazine from Perendale Publishers.

Bluefin tuna a step closer to domestication

A team of researchers from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), have for the first time in Europe, adapt captive juvenile bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in ground facilities. This has only been achieved with four species of tuna before, in Japan, Australia and the United States, with Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis), southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and blackfin tuna (Thunnus atlanticus).

The tuna, which weigh one kilogram, have spent the last 15 days in a fiberglass tank where they are being fed chopped anchovy and sardine, and appear to be showing "very active feeding behavior," said the IEO. In the first case they achieved a 70 per cent survival rate, while the second was 100 per cent, mainly because these fish were already adapted to captivity in cages. Read more...

Spain pilots project to evaluate cod farming in closed circuit

In Getaria Spain a new project is being piloted to look at raising turbot, flounder and cod in closed circuits. This project includes the use of a new water recycling technology, the project is funded by the Department for Environment, Territorial Planning, Agriculture and Fisheries of the Basque Government, through the structural funds program for fisheries (EFF), which has allocated to the project EUR€ 1.75 million for the pilot project.

The Basque Minister stressed that the cod farming project is innovative both in the Spanish aquaculture sector, as it is in Europe. In this regard, she explained that this activity is common in the closed circuit technologies and water recirculation systems are used at all stages of breeding and pre-fattening, such as sole and turbot, whilst fattening is usually carried out by conventional systems in open water circulation. Read more...


This blog is written by Martin Little The Aquaculturists, published and supported by the International Aquafeed Magazine from Perendale Publishers.