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© Anja Bunge / Thünen-Institut
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Institute of

FI Fisheries Ecology

Project

Application of stable istopes in aquaculture research

Lead Institute FI Institute of Fisheries Ecology
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© Thünen-Institut für Fischereiökologie/Marc Willenberg
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Application of stable istopes in aquaculture research

Nutrient flows are an important characteristic of aquaculture systems. The cultivated organisms such as finfish or crustaceans consume compound feeds or natural food, undigested feed/food items and metabolites are excreted and can become incorporated in other aquatic food chains. Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen offer the possibility to trace these nutrient flows within and outside the respective aquaculture system. Quantitative knowledge of the nutrient flows allows to improve the efficiency of aquaculture systems and to provide a solid base for the assessment of their environmental impact.

Background and Objective

The world wide increasing demand for fish and seafood kan be met only by an increase in aquaculture production. This increase in aquaculture production must be sustainable, i.e. inputs must be used in the most efficient way, and aquaculture must not lead to environmental degradation. Using stable isotopes as tracers, nutrient flows in aquaculture systems can be identified. e.g. the specific demand of the cultured species for essential amino acids can be determined this way, and the utilization of individual ingredients from compound feeds can be determined. using this information in feed formulation will reduce the amount of feed required per unit of product. On the other hand, the incorporation of carbon and nitrogen originating from aquaculture into free living organisms can be quantified. This offers the possibility for a quantification of environmental impact of aquaculture systems.

Target Group

Aquaculture sector, feed producers, international agencies (ICES, HELCOM, etc.), national and regional environmental agencies, scientists

Thünen-Contact

Prof. Dr. Ulfert Focken

FI Institute of Fisheries Ecology

Involved external Thünen-Partners

Duration

10.2009 - 12.2026

More Information

Project status: ongoing

Publications

  1. 0

    Svasand T, Asplin L, Boyd A, Ellis T, Keeley NB, Moberg O, Burgetz I, Engler C, Falconer L, Focken U, Grefsrud ES, Hui L, Jakobsen G, Laksa U, Lock E-J, McKindsey C, Moore A, Morris D, á Nordi G, O'Beirn F, et al (2020) Working Group on Environmental Interactions of Aquaculture (WGEIA). Copenhagen: ICES, 187 p, ICES Sci Rep 2(112), DOI:10.17895/ices.pub.7619

  2. 1

    Barreto-Curiel F, Focken U, D'Abramo LR, Mata-Sotres J, Viana MT (2019) Assessment of amino acid requirements for Totoaba macdonaldi at different levels of protein using stable isotopes and a non-digestible protein source as a filler. Aquaculture 503:550-561, DOI:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2019.01.038

  3. 2

    Callier MD, Byron CJ, Bengtson DA, Cranford PJ, Cross SF, Focken U, Jansen HM, Kamermans P, Kiessling A, Landry T, O'Beirn F, Petersson E, Rheault RB, Strand O, Sundell K, Svaasand T, Wykfors GH, McKindsey CW (2018) Attraction and repulsion of mobile wild organisms to finfish and shellfish aquaculture: a review. Reviews Aquacult 10(4):924-949, DOI:10.1111/raq.12208

  4. 3

    Kusche H, Hillgruber N, Rößner Y, Focken U (2018) The effect of different fish feed compositions on delta13C and δ15N signatures of sea bass and its potential value for tracking mariculture-derived nutrients. Isotopes Environ Health Stud 54(1):28-40, DOI:10.1080/10256016.2017.1361419

  5. 4

    Barreto-Curiel F, Focken U, D'Abramo LR, Cuarón JA, Viana MT (2018) Use of isotopic enrichment to assess the relationship among dietary protein levels, growth and nitrogen retention in juvenile Totoaba macdonaldi. Aquaculture 495:794-802, DOI:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2018.06.001

  6. 5

    Mayrhofer R, Menanteau-Ledouble S, Pucher J, Focken U, El-Matbouli M (2017) Leaves from banana (Musa nana) and maize (Zea mays) have no phyto-prophylactic effects on the susceptibility of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) to Aeromonas hydrophila infection. BMC Vet Res 13:329, DOI:10.1186/s12917-017-1255-5

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn059274.pdf

  7. 6

    Barreto-Curiel F, Focken U, D'Abramo LR, Viana MT (2017) Metabolism of Seriola lalandi during starvation as revealed by fatty acid analysis and compound-specific analysis of stable isotopes within amino acids. PLoS One 12(1):e0170124, DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0170124

    https://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn058068.pdf

  8. 7

    Kusche H, Hillgruber N, Rößner Y, Focken U (2017) Plant protein-based feeds and commercial feed enable isotopic tracking of aquaculture emissions into marine macrozoobenthic bioindicator species. Isotopes Environ Health Stud 53(3):261-273, DOI:10.1080/10256016.2016.1267166

  9. 8

    Pucher J, Focken U (2017) Uptake of nitrogen from natural food into fish in differently managed polyculture ponds using 15N as tracer. Aquaculture Int 25(1):87-105, DOI:10.1007/s10499-016-0015-z

  10. 9

    Pucher J, Mayrhofer R, El-Matbouli M, Focken U (2014) 15N tracer application to evaluate nitrogen dynamics of food webs in two subtropical small-scale aquaculture ponds under different managements. Isotopes Environ Health Stud:in Press, DOI:10.1080/10256016.2014.922963

  11. 10

    Pucher J, Mayrhofer R, El-Matbouli M, Focken U (2013) 15N tracer application to evaluate nitrogen dynamics of food webs in two subtropical small scale aquaculture ponds under different managements. In: Book of abstracts / Jahrestagung der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Stabile Isotope (ASI), 30.09.-02.10.2013, Braunschweig.

  12. 11

    Gaye-Siessegger J, Mamun SM, Brinker A, Focken U (2013) Improving estimates of trophic (Delta-trophic) for diet reconstruction studies using enzyme activities. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 164(4):579-583, DOI:10.1016/j.cbpa.2013.01.003

  13. 12

    Gaye-Siessegger J, McCullagh JS, Focken U (2011) The effect of dietary amino acid abundance and isotopic composition on the growth rate, metabolism and tissue ð13C of rainbow trout. Brit J Nutr 105(12):1764-1771, DOI:10.1017/S0007114510005696

  14. 13

    McCullagh JS, Gaye-Siessegger J, Focken U (2010) Studies on amino acid metabolism in rainbow trout: effect of dietary amino acid composition on growth performance and Omega13 C of amino acids. EAAP Sci Ser 127:143-144

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