ROBUST-SMOLT: Impact of early life history in freshwater recirculation aquaculture systems on salmon robustness and susceptibility to disease at sea.
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: Biosciences
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
The adoption of Recirculation Aquaculture Systems for freshwater salmon production has clear benefits however, fish transferred from RAS systems are not performing equally to fish reared in open water loch systems. In the current project, we hypothesise that RAS rearing conditions, especially water chemistry and microbiology, nutrition, photoperiod and temperature, affect early life history traits of salmon and impact on microbiomes, immune barriers, osmoregulation, and robustness at sea especially for gill pathologies and new anaemic syndrome. The proposed research is multidisciplinary and will develop basic knowledge on RAS, photo-thermal history, diet and vaccine effects on fish physiology that may predispose fish to disease at sea. Two large-scale trials will be performed to test RAS vs. open water lochs in a commercial setting and the interaction between photoperiod, diet and vaccine in a controlled experiment. In addition, small-scale experiments will test the effects of increased CO2 on salmon physiology, the effects of freshwater history on smolt immune function (using double stranded RNA challenge) and post-smolt amoebic gill disease susceptibility when challenged with infectious agent N. Peruvans. A toolbox will be used to study fish health biomarkers including blood chemistry, haematopoietic indexes, endocrine status and immune function including leukocyte inflammatory markers, anti-viral response in erythrocytes and plasma prostaglandins. The genotype by environment interaction will also be studied. Experimental and production data will be combined in a meta-analysis to produce a unique large-scale epidemiological study and identify risk factors for disease at sea. Major outcomes will be industry recommendations, protocols and tools for early freshwater conditioning that promote enhanced immune function and health at sea. The ROBUST-SMOLT project will contribute to boost the competitiveness and sustainability of the UK aquaculture sector.
Planned Impact
The project will have significant economic, social and environmental impacts by furthering our understanding and improving inconsistences in smolt quality supply and subsequent seawater performance and losses. Thus, the overarching goal is to provide new knowledge and tools to monitor and enhance farming system (RAS) efficiency and reliability, fish robustness and health, and sector productivity and sustainability. Furthermore, the project aims to improve our basic understanding of mechanisms of the gut microbiome, mucosal integrity, physiological regulation of smoltification and interaction with water chemistry under closed RAS systems to enhance immunocompetence and post-sea transfer performance. By gaining an insight into molecular regulation and phenotypic development under closed containment systems, the salmon producers will also benefit from development of new tools and markers to aid improving smolt health and consistency, thus ensuring that fish produced are in optimum condition and meeting welfare standards. Such knowledge will help reduce losses and increase viability, competitiveness and sustainability of the UK aquaculture production sectors. The UK is the world's second largest salmon producer with ex-farm value of £400 million, worldwide retail value of over £1 billion, and contributes over £500 million to the UK economy. Salmon comprises 40% of Scottish food exports, a 500% increase in the last 20 years, and exports to 55 countries. Most importantly, fish farming supports employment for over 8,000 people in rural areas in which jobs otherwise are few, and injects £5m every week into these communities as wages and local expenditure. Furthermore, the UK salmon industry has been tasked to farm 70,000 extra tonnes by 2020 (market value of £280M+) and >100,000t by 2030. This can only come from opening new locations and improving production efficiency - requiring a significant "paradigm" shift in public perception of the sustainability and welfare of farmed salmon. Losses at sea in 2016 accounted for ~36,000T (16.8% of smolts put to sea), 50% of the desired UK production target for 2020. Thus, collaboration between the industry and academic research in this area is vital as aquaculture is not supported by any Government research institute, as in other areas of agriculture. As such, the primary economic beneficiaries will be the UK aquaculture industry, specifically through producers (MHS, SSF, SSC & Cooke), Biomar Ltd. and Pharmaq Ltd., allowing them to strength UK competitiveness in the global market, by keeping pace with, and refining operative efficiency, as part of the progressive nature of global aquaculture. The project benefits will therefore get passed directly to the UK salmon producers through the generation of new husbandry protocols, health management strategies, feed and vaccines. The project will directly benefit the competitiveness of the entire UK salmon industry chain. This project will also contribute to UK policies for sustainability and environmentally sound food production, whilst ensuring health and welfare of fish. Improved control will also support the Renewed Strategic Framework for Scottish Aquaculture (2010) and the Future of European aquaculture (EATiP, 2012). The data will also aid the industry portray a more pro-active approach to addressing the public concerns of welfare of farmed salmon. Finally, there will also be direct public health benefits by increasing productivity. Since farmed salmon are a major source of long-chain omega-3 in the UK diet, with more than 1.2m salmon meals eaten per day, this project can also make a significant contribution to the health and well-being of the human population. Overall, the major outcome of this project will be to provide data to industry in order to optimise practical methods for the routine production of high quality smolts in RAS systems and maximise robustness of farmed stocks during seawater ongrowing.
Publications
A Ross Brown
Assessing the benefits and challenges of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for Atlantic salmon production.
in Reviews in Fisheries Science and Aquaculture
Ashley G. Bell
(2022)
Metagenomic assessment of the diversity and ubiquity of antibiotic resistance genes in in Bangladesh aquaculture ponds
in Aquaculture International
Bass D
(2019)
The Pathobiome in Animal and Plant Diseases.
in Trends in ecology & evolution
Bell A
(2024)
Influence of host phylogeny and water physicochemistry on microbial assemblages of the fish skin microbiome
in FEMS Microbiology Ecology
Brown A
(2020)
Stakeholder perspectives on the importance of water quality and other constraints for sustainable mariculture
in Environmental Science & Policy
Charles R. Tyler
(2022)
Metagenomic assessment of the diversity and ubiquity of antibiotic resistance genes in in Bangladesh aquaculture ponds
in Aquaculture International
Hazel Knipe
Contaminants in shrimp probiotics - a potential emerging threat to food security
in Aquaculture
Lorgen-Ritchie M
(2023)
Microbiomes in the context of developing sustainable intensified aquaculture
in Frontiers in Microbiology
Marlene Lorgen-Ritchie
Microbiomes in the context of developing sustainable and intensified aquaculture
in Reviews in Aquaculture
Description | Overall outcome to date: Following up on the report last year the RAS experiment is now complete and all the data are in and being analysed and written up for publication. These analyses will enable us to make a major step forwards in assessing how the environmental conditions salmon parr experience in commercial RAS impact on their health and in turn the potential for impacting disease susceptibility. |
Exploitation Route | Publication |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Environment Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
Description | RAS experiment has been completed using different water carbonate chemistries that mimic those in commercial production units to assess for effects on salmon parr health, including effects on the skin microbiome. The experiment has been completed successfully and a wide range of tissues collected and endpoints measured. This includes features of the salmon blood biochemistry, their immune status, gill status ( via histopathology)and skin microbiomes. We are now in the process of analysing these data sets for writing the manuscript for publication. These analyses will enable us to assess how the environmental conditions salmon parr experience in commercial RAS impact on their health and in turn the potential for impacting disease susceptibility. |
Description | Antibiotic exposure impacts on fish associated microbiomes and disease in aquaculture |
Amount | £0 (GBP) |
Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2019 |
End | 09/2023 |
Description | Antibiotic exposure impacts on fish health in natural freshwaters |
Amount | £70,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2021 |
End | 01/2024 |
Description | Cefas strategic alliance to co-fund 8 PhD studentships (50:50 with the University of Exeter) |
Amount | £500,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Centre For Environment, Fisheries And Aquaculture Science |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2021 |
End | 09/2025 |
Description | Developing biocontained, trackable phage therapeutics for combatting diseases in aquaculture |
Amount | £63,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Mowi Scotland |
Sector | Private |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2024 |
End | 01/2028 |
Description | Effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of antibiotics on the skin microbiome of Eurasian carp (Cyprinus carpio) |
Amount | £14,534 (GBP) |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2023 |
Description | KE Culture Programme: Applying a positive tipping points framework for the sustainable development of the mariculture sector |
Amount | £29,746 (GBP) |
Organisation | Higher Education Funding Council for England |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2022 |
End | 07/2022 |
Description | Pathogen-host genomic interactions in disease emergence, virulence, and resistance |
Amount | £25,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Centre For Environment, Fisheries And Aquaculture Science |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2021 |
End | 01/2024 |
Description | Strategic Priorities Fund: Research Fund to support evidenced-based Policy Making. Developing a policy brief for sustainable aquaculture development in SW England |
Amount | £10,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
Department | Research England |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2021 |
End | 07/2021 |
Description | Sustainable Future Global Aquaculture - Water Resources, Pollution and Biodiversity Protection. |
Amount | £70,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2021 |
End | 03/2022 |
Description | Sustainable Future Global Aquaculture -Water, Pollution, and Wildlife Habitat Protection |
Amount | £80,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Centre For Environment, Fisheries And Aquaculture Science |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2022 |
End | 09/2025 |
Description | Transformational blueprint for a blue economy on UK terrestrial farms: integrating sustainable shrimp production in a changing agricultural landscape |
Amount | £1,965,718 (GBP) |
Funding ID | BB/W018039/1 |
Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2022 |
End | 09/2025 |
Description | Transitioning towards more sustainable food systems through the application of a positive tipping points framework |
Amount | £48,186 (GBP) |
Organisation | Centre For Environment, Fisheries And Aquaculture Science |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2023 |
End | 07/2023 |
Description | Understanding microbiomes in cultured tilapia for disease prediction and mitigation strategies |
Amount | £0 (GBP) |
Organisation | Worldfish |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | Malaysia |
Start | 04/2020 |
End | 04/2023 |
Title | Advancing sequencing methods |
Description | Developed refinements on methods for microbiome analysis using DNA seq and application of MinIon for long reads in this sequencing work (lead by Ben Temperton) |
Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | none as yet |
Title | Bespoke system for RAS systems |
Description | Bespoke system set up at the University of Exeter for RAS systems: New bespoke exposure system set up at the University of Exeter and demonstration of its application to mimic the water chemistry exposures conditions in commercial salmon RAS. The RAS experiment undertaken has successfully completed and is well progressed in terms of being written up as a full research paper. |
Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The PDRA employed on this project has developed a wide range of skill sets in fish physiology, in-life exposures, sequencing and microbiome analysis. Will be available to others on publication. |
Title | New bespoke exposure system |
Description | Bespoke exposure system set up at the University of Exeter and demonstration of its application to mimic the water chemistry exposures conditions in commercial salmon RAS. This major be-spoke tank system for undertaking controlled climatic exposures for fish is now being used for other BBSRC funded research projects. |
Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The ability to undertake climate controlled experiments in a highly controlled manner to investigate the impacts of features of water chemistry and climate on fish growth, health and performance has opened up new research opportunities for us in understanding (for example) how the application of recirculating aquaculture systems may impact on salmon production. Applying this system we have produced evidence to suggest that some of the conditions experienced by salmon in major commercial RAS production systems may be detrimental to their long term health (data yet to be published). This information will be provisioned - through our collaborative partnerships in this grant - directly to the major salmon producers globally as well as via publication in the open literature. |
Description | Development of a research (PhD) project in collaboration with Prof Herve Miguard at MOWI |
Organisation | Mowi Scotland |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We are developing a research project (PhD) project with the worlds largest salmon producer - MOWI - on the development of phage therapy - to use phages prophylactically to reduce salmon pathogens in RAS or pond systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | see above |
Impact | none as yet |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | Dr Tom Powell a social scientist and expert in the application of the 'Positive Tipping Points Framework' |
Organisation | University of Exeter |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Work from this project contributed to our success in securing a grant from the centre for environment fisheries and aquaculture for seeking how to transition towards more sustainable food systems within which salmon aquaculture practice features strongly. This project has forged a new collaboration with Dr Tom Powell a social scientist and expert in the application of the 'Positive Tipping Points Framework' |
Collaborator Contribution | see above |
Impact | Grant from the centre for environment fisheries and aquaculture for seeking how to transition towards more sustainable food systems within which salmon aquaculture practice features strongly. Dr Tom Powell, Research Impact Fellow, Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | Aquaculture and the Environment. International Workshop on Aquaculture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Aquaculture and the Environment. International Workshop on Aquaculture. Ningobo University, China. Invited Keynote 17th September 2019 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Attendance at UK Science and Innovation Network/Indian High Commission network meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Networking conference/workshops: Aquaculture - Water and Remote Sensing. On line - UK-India Aquaculture Partnership for Research and Innovation - UK Science and Innovation Network/Indian High Commission in Dehli. 8-10th March 2021 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | British Trout Association online workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Knowledge sharing event. British Trout Association. Sustainable Aquaculture- Focus on Water Quality On line - 09 September 2021 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Defra closed meeting on Sustainable Aquaculture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Tackling Food and Water Security. Defra closed meeting on Sustainable Aquaculture. London. Keynote July 1st 2019 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | International meeting on aquaculture and antimicrobial resistance - a one health challenge |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Disease in Aquaculture, Antibiotics and AMR risk.International meeting on aquaculture and antimicrobial resistance - a one health challenge. Dhakar Bangladesh. Keynote. 12th February 2019 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Invited Plenary Talk by Prof Rod Wilson at PHARMAQademy 2022 - Virtual Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Invited Plenary Talk "Optimal water chemistry for salmonids in RAS" |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Invited presentation with UK government envoy to University of Qatar |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Combating Disease for Sustainable Aquaculture, Invited presentation with UK government envoy to University of Qatar, Qatar. Keynote. 16th Jan 2019 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Opening keynote speech for European Aquaculture Society |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Aquaculture (Finfish) and the Environment. European Aquaculture Society - Growing from Water. Berlin. Invited Opening Keynote 8th October 2019 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Science for the predictive understanding of water resources in a changing world. GW4 Water Security Alliance 2020: 2 November 2020 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | GW4 conference 2020 - academic/student audience |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://gw4water.com/events/wsa-annual-conference-2020-greater-water-security-regional-research-deli... |
Description | Talk - Tackling Food and Water Security Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | International collaborations via Tackling Food and Water Security Workshop with Cefas and Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies, University of Malaysia (University of Exeter, 31st October -1 November 2023. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Talk - global sustainable aquaculture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Seeking Sustainable Aquaculture Futures - Globally and in the Southwest. Southwest Aquaculture Network, Exeter 4th March 2023 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Talk at Advances in Marine Mussel Research, Saunton Sands, UK, 21-23 November 2022 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Talk: Challenges and opportunities for future sustainable global aquaculture. 4th International Symposium for Advances in Marine Mussel Research 2022 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Talk at British Trout Association (Southern Regional Meeting, Cefas Weymouth) - 7th February 2023 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Dr Rod Wilson gave a talk entitled "Optimising Water Chemistry for Rainbow trout" at the British Trout Association (Southern Regional Meeting, Cefas Weymouth) on 7th February 2023. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Talk at Cefas Annual Science Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Seeking Sustainable Aquaculture Futures UK. Cefas Annual Science Conference, London 4th October 2023 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Workshop: Aquaculture Projects in Bangladesh |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Knowledge sharing/reporting workshop. Aquaculture Projects in Bangladesh. Focus: The Environment. Bangladesh Safe and Sustainable Aquatic Food Project Workshop - Embedding One Health to Support Aquatic Food Production during Covid-19. On line - 22-23 March, 2021. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |