AE2015 rotterdam special session diversify
During the Aquaculture Europe 2015 conference, DIVERSIFY project had a special session day, Thursday 22th October. Major achivements in pikeperch culture obtained during 2014 and 2015 were presented by the species leader Pascal Fontaine
, (UL), with results from the work of I. Lund, C. Tsigenopoulos, E. Gisbert, S.N.M. Mandiki, M. Izquierdo, F. Teletchea and P. Kestemont.
, (UL), with results from the work of I. Lund, C. Tsigenopoulos, E. Gisbert, S.N.M. Mandiki, M. Izquierdo, F. Teletchea and P. Kestemont.
justification for the selection of pikeperch
This freshwater fish is considered to have the highest potential for inland aquaculture diversification in Europe (Wang et al., 2008). Based on EU projects LUCIOPERCA and LUCIOPERCIMPROVE, reproductive control (Kucharczyk et al., 2007) and bio-economic feasibility of pikeperch intensive rearing (Steenfeldt & Lund, 2008; Steenfeldt et al., 2010) have been demonstrated. Pikeperch demand has been strengthened by the strong decline of wild catches from Russia, Estonia and Finland from 50.000 t in 1950 to 20.000 t currently (FAO, 2009). Over the last decade, 10 new farms have been built in Europe to produce pikeperch using (RAS) (Fontaine et al., 2012), producing an estimated 300-400 t (1st Workshop of the European Percid Fish Culture Group, 1 Sept 2012, Prague). Numerous more commercial operations have been designed and/or are under construction in Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal and the Netherlands. Year-round production of pikeperch requires constant high temperatures (24-26°C), which is only feasible in RAS to ensure relatively high growth rates (i.e., production of 1.2 kg fish in 15 -18 months from non-selected strains). These RAS also allow high densities of 80-100 kg m-3 (Dalsgaard et al., in press). Pikeperch flesh quality has a neutral taste, thus lending itself to different forms of preparation, and the filets are without bones --unlike carp, which competes on the same market segment. At present, pikeperch is sold either as whole fish at a weight of 600-3000 g or as filets of 100-800 g to markets in Europe (mainly Western, Eastern and Northern areas) and North-America, showing strong demand. The market value is high at 8-11 € kg-1 at farm gate, whole fish.
Identified by a survey addressed to fish farmers in preparation for DIVERSIFY, the major bottlenecks for further expansion of pikeperch culture today include (a) high sensitivity to stressors, handling and husbandry practices that result in high and sudden mortalities, (b) low larval survival (typical 5-10%) and high incidence of deformities, (c) lack of knowledge of the genetic variability of the used broodstocks. Identification of genetic relationships among different broodstocks, inbreeding phenomena and loss of heterozygosity is important in aquaculture, since it may result in subsequent reproductive and productive failure (reduced progeny survival, growth, food conversion efficiency and increased frequency of deformities). It is also important to know how the domesticated stocks differ from their wild counterparts, which could potentially be a future source of fish to implement in effective breeding programs. Overcoming the above bottlenecks is very important to reduce production costs and, therefore, expand the aquaculture production of this species in the EU, and will be the objective of DIVERSIFY.
Identified by a survey addressed to fish farmers in preparation for DIVERSIFY, the major bottlenecks for further expansion of pikeperch culture today include (a) high sensitivity to stressors, handling and husbandry practices that result in high and sudden mortalities, (b) low larval survival (typical 5-10%) and high incidence of deformities, (c) lack of knowledge of the genetic variability of the used broodstocks. Identification of genetic relationships among different broodstocks, inbreeding phenomena and loss of heterozygosity is important in aquaculture, since it may result in subsequent reproductive and productive failure (reduced progeny survival, growth, food conversion efficiency and increased frequency of deformities). It is also important to know how the domesticated stocks differ from their wild counterparts, which could potentially be a future source of fish to implement in effective breeding programs. Overcoming the above bottlenecks is very important to reduce production costs and, therefore, expand the aquaculture production of this species in the EU, and will be the objective of DIVERSIFY.
