8^th International conference on Fisheries & Aquaculture October 02-04, 2017 Toronto, Canada

Sixto E. Portilla began his graduate studies in 1996 in water resources; earning a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from Manhattan College. He began studying estuarine ecology in 2007, and shortly afterwards, in 2008, began his doctoral work at the City University of New York. A series of his recent publications articulate the role of two dietary omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, abundant yet variable in our local phytoplankton, in facilitating successful acclimation of the filter feeding bivalve, Mercenaria mercenaria, to decreasing temperature. In 2015 he began investigating the environmental factors preceding historic fishkills of Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, some claiming 100s of thousands of fish per event, through the lens of cell membrane homeoviscous adaptation. His presentation today describes the development of a theory linking diet and decreasing atmospheric temperature to these massive menhaden fishkills.

Temperature change affects remodelling of cell membrane phospholipids in poikilothermic organisms to maintain constant cell membrane viscosity. Rapidly decreasing temperature demands rapid remodelling, and often forces poikilotherms to promptly acclimatize to a lower thermal regime. Recently published research provide evidence suggesting that dietary omega-3 fatty acid content may have a profound impact on the ability of filter-feeding Atlantic menhaden to acclimatize to a rapidly cooling environment. Temperature profiles and micro-plankton records preceding several major 2015 menhaden fishkills in the northeast United States provide additional evidence that particular omega-3 dietary fatty acids found in micro-plankton may control acclimatization to decreasing temperature in this species.

Muruganandam Muthiah is Fulbright Visiting Scientist at Department of Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA. He is a founder Scientist of Fisheries/Aquatic Science Department at ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (ICAR-IISWC), Dehradun. At IISWC, he is Faculty Member and In-Charge of Fisheries Science. He has over 25 years’ experience on Watershed-Based Fisheries/Aquaculture Research and Training. He has completed/handling 17 research/demonstration projects and published over 100 research/technical papers including five books, two manuals, six technology brochures and two theses. He organized two national conferences besides much training/camps/field demonstrations to diverse stakeholders. He is an active member in over 16 professional societies. He is recipient of over 12 professional recognitions including three National Fellowships and Fulbright award. He was resource person in about 70 national/international training/extension programs. He has attended over 75 national/international Conferences/Symposia and many technical Workshops/Meetings and co-chaired few technical sessions. He also visited Auburn University, Alabama, USA as a visiting researcher.

India being an agrarian country with over 70% people depending on agriculture for food/livelihoods, agriculture/allied sub-sectors get much importance. India with huge aquatic resources has registered a phenomenal growth in fisheries production with 10.8 million tons (mt) in 2015-16 (6.4% of world’s total fish) from mere 0.75 mt in 1950-51, which is 14-fold increase. Being one of the top fish producers and 2nd in aquaculture production in world, India earns about US$ 5 billion (2015-16) through exports (10% of total export and 20% of Agriculture export). Also, fisheries support 15 million people for food/livelihoods and contributes 1.1% to total India’s GDP (5.3% to Agriculture GDP). Presently, freshwater fisheries is growing faster as compared to marine fisheries. About 3.58mt (2015-16, 33% of total) against estimated potential, 4.41mt marine fish produced and rest (67%) came from freshwater. Of late, aquaculture contribution outweighed capture fisheries. Despite growth, India presently produces 10 times lower than China (leading fish producer) and stands around 136th-rank in per capita fish consumption with 9kg amongst 160 countries of world. India invests more on research and technological advancements to improve fish production and meet projected demand, 15mt fish by 2020 with 8% annual growth rate. Asian carps including Indian (Catla catla, Labeo rohita, Cirrhinus mrigala) and Chinese carps (Cyprinus carpio, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) besides catfish (Pangasius pangasius) and cichlid (Tilapia sp.) in warm water and trout (Salmo trutto fario, Oncorhynchus mykiss), mahseer (Tor putitora), and Indian trout (Schizothorax richardsonii) in coldwater; shrimps (Penaeus monodon, P. indicus and P. vannamei), seabass (Lates calcarifer) in coasts and cobia (Rachycentron canadum), pompano (Trachinotus mookalee) and groupers (Epinephelus sp.) in marine environments are some of the species that are currently cultivated/promoted. Effective utilization of unutilized/under-utilized resources through modern farming systems, mobilizing farmers/stakeholders, technological innovations and policy/support mechanisms are some of ongoing thrusts.

Portia Chiyedza Chifamba has keen interest in Fish and Fisheries Biology. Her work includes studies of diet and growth of several fish species. She has undertaken extensive studies of two fish species introduced into Lake Kariba; Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus and freshwater sardine, Limnothrissa miodon. The studies demonstrate that unplanned introduction of Nile tilapia had negative impact on the ecosystem compared to planned introduction of the sardine intended to fill a vacant niche and improve fish production. She has compared the diet, aggression, reproductive capacity and growth of the Nile tilapia in order to determine the traits that might have given the introduced species competitive advantage over the endemic indigenous cichlid, Oreochromis mortimeri. The fisheries work she has undertaken includes establishing that effective fishing effort in the sardine fishery and it increases as a result of fishing vessel and gear improvement, an aspect critical in the management of fishing effort.

Statement of the Problem: A fishery on an introduced freshwater sardine, Limnothrissa miodon started in Lake Kariba in 1974. Fishing effort and catches increased to peak in 1990 and thereafter declined. Overfishing and climate change are blamed for the collapse of the fishery. Fishing is known worldwide to drive evolution of life history parameters and should be monitored. There has been no attempt to examine both alleged causes of collapse together and no recent estimates of size at maturity.

Aim: The purposes of this study were to establish the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), to evaluate the relationship between fishing effort, environmental variables, fish catches and effort and also determine size at maturity.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: The catch and effort time series data were used to fit two surplus yield models from which the MSY and the effort used to catch it was calculated. The association of fishing effort and Catch per Unit Effort (CPUE) with temperature and hydrological variables were assessed using Generalized Linear model analysis. Size at maturity, when 50% of fish in particular length or age group are mature, was estimated using logistic curves.

Findings: The fishing effort after 1990 was above MSY, suggesting overfishing. The CPUE is significantly correlated to air temperature. A multiple regression analysis showed that fishing effort and lake level explained the variation in total catch whilst fishing effort and maximum temperature explained variation in CPUE (as indicator of biomass), suggesting a strong effect of fishing effort. Maturity occurred at a much smaller size in this study than before the fishery.

Conclusion & Significance: A combination of unsustainable fishing effort and unfavorable environment may have contributed to the collapse of the fishery. Environmental condition particularly climate change and small size at maturity may affect the recovery of the fishery even when fishing effort is reduced.

Vasu Jayaprakas is currently working as a professor at Amity University Uttar Pradesh, India. He is a scientist with a wide range of experience in Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Science. An aquaculture expert with vast experience and knowledge in commercial farming of marine shrimps, brackish water and fresh water fishes. He is associated with academic agencies, policy makers, Government bodies and NGOs to carry out aquaculture projects in coastal areas. He is the In-charge of Integrated Research Project on Fish-cum Livestock culture, pig-cum fish culture and composite culture of carp and giant fresh water prawn.

In the present study, 19 species of free-living protozoans have been identified and characterized from the Vembanadu Lake. A total of 15 testacid rhizopods belonging to two orders, six families and nine genera and theciliates of three orders, three families were recorded. Among the testaceousrhizopods one species from Arcellidae family, five from Centropyxidae, one species from Nebelidae, six from Difflugidae belonging to the Class Lobosea and two species from the Class Filosea belonging to Cyphoderiidae and Euglyphidae families were identified. Some of these free living forms have given certain insights into the prevailing ecological conditions of the ecosystem thus acting as perfect bio-indicators. Euglypha tuberculata, reported in the present study is a species of wide tolerance and survives in diverse habitats. Similarly Cryptodifflugia oviformis which was reported for the first time in India, in this study, prefers dryer environments. Due to its smallsize, this species mainly feeds on bacteria and yeasts; their high abundance explains active decomposition process in the area. The diversity of the free-living ciliates in the study area included species belonging to three genera namely Euplotes, Tachysoma and Coleps and they were pollution indicators possessing the property of heavy metal uptake. The water quality analysis and heavy metal analysis proved that the waters are polluted with heavy metal concentrations and these dominant ciliate species can be used as good bio-indicators, reflecting the natural ecological conditions prevailing in the water body and for bioremediation of aquatic pollutants in aquaculture systems.

Madlen Mikhael Habashy is the Professor of Invertebrate Aquaculture at the Fish Research Station El Qanater El-Khayria, Invertebrate laboratory (N I O F). She is the member of Egyptian Society for the Development of Fisheries Resources & Human Health. Her current research focuses on Aquatic Invertebrates, aquaculture and fisheries.

A 12-week randomized factorial design 3×4×2 (three feeding levels, four feeding frequency and two replicates) rearing trial was conducted in glass aquariums with an average initial weight of 0.014±0.01 g/ pL25 and an average initial length of 1.10±0.12 cm of each freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, to examine the effects of the three feeding levels and four feeding frequencies on growth performances, survival rate % feed utilization and body composition. Twenty four aquariums, 120 l each were stocked with 30 juvenile each. The aquariums were divided randomly to give three feeding levels of 3, 5 and 10% of body weight daily and four feeding frequencies (once/day at 9.00 h. Twice/day at 9.00 and 20.00 h. Thrice/day at 9.00, 15.00 and 21.00h. Four times/day at 9.00, 13.00, 17.00 and 21.00 h) involving two replicates each. The results revealed that, mean final weight (g/animal), mean final length (cm/animal), gain in weight (g/animal), gain in weight %, gain in length, gain in length %, SGR (% per day) and survival rate % were significantly increased with increasing feeding level and exhibited the highest values at the 5% feeding level. While, feed conversion ratio, feed efficiency ratio, protein efficiency ratio and feed intake (g/animal) were significantly (P≤0.01) the best at the 3% feeding level. Feeding frequency were significantly affected by the mean final weight (g/animal), mean final length (cm/animal), gain in weight (g/animal), gain in weight %, gain in length, gain in length %, SGR (% per day), survival rate %, feed conversation ratio, feed efficiency ratio, protein efficiency ratio and feed intake (g/animal), its values were increased with increasing feeding frequencies and had the best values at the feeding frequency of three times daily. Condition factor (K) was significantly affected with feeding levels and feeding frequencies with highest values at feeding frequency of three times daily and feeding levels of 10% body weight daily. Whole body composition % of moisture decreased (73.29%) at 3% feeding levels and was not significantly influenced by feeding frequencies. Protein and fat contents of the whole body were significantly (P≤0.05) influenced by feeding levels but protein content did not get influenced by feeding frequencies. The highest protein content and lowest fat content were obtained at 5% feeding levels. Crude ash content of the whole body composition was significantly affected with feeding frequencies but not influenced by feeding levels. There was a significant (P≤0.01) interaction between feeding levels and feeding frequencies in all parameters studied. From the above results, it can be concluded that, feeding levels of 5% body weight daily at feeding frequencies of 3 times daily for freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, juveniles exhibited the highest growth performance, survival rate % and the best feed utilization parameters which would seem to be the most desirable feeding levels and frequencies under this experimental conditions.

Muruganandam Muthiah is Fulbright Visiting Scientist at Department of Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA. He is a founder Scientist of Fisheries/Aquatic Science Department at ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (ICAR-IISWC), Dehradun. At IISWC, he is Faculty Member and In-Charge of Fisheries Science. He has over 25 years’ experience on Watershed-Based Fisheries/Aquaculture Research and Training. He has completed/handling 17 research/demonstration projects and published over 100 research/technical papers including five books, two manuals, six technology brochures and two theses. He organized two national conferences besides much training/camps/field demonstrations to diverse stakeholders. He is an active member in over 16 professional societies. He is recipient of over 12 professional recognitions including three National Fellowships and Fulbright award. He was resource person in about 70 national/international training/extension programs. He has attended over 75 national/international Conferences/Symposia and many technical Workshops/Meetings and co chaired few technical sessions. He also visited Auburn University, Alabama, USA as a visiting researcher.

Prevalence of ignorance and misconceptions amongst the ethnic communities brings extension related problems that affect adoption of improved technologies significantly in northwestern Himalayan region of India. Often, effective extension approaches are as essential as the development of technologies per se since ineffective extension of technologies would cause poor adoption of even the time-tested technologies. At this context, a survey was conducted to test the hypothesis that extension problems constraint and remedying them would improve fish farming. Fifty general farmers each from both foothill and mid-hill Himalayas totaling 100 drawn randomly covering various qualification and age status surveyed during 2005-15. In addition, 30 farmers and trainees of ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (ICAR-IISWC), Dehradun were interviewed. The problems-cause diagrams on lack of fish farming/integrated fish farming were drawn with help of villagers, field observations, expert opinion and limited farm surveys/experimentation and they included various socio-economic, socio-cultural, biophysical, technological and extension issues. We have identified high ranking misconceptions including negative apprehensions of farmers and ground-level constraints for fish farming, prevailing interfaces between water conservation and fisheries development attributes. Most farmers, up to 80% had over 15 mythical ideas about fish farming. Also, unscientific and faulty fish farming practices, such as stocking more fish seedlings, excessive water exchange or flow-through, application of no/little lime and fertilizers to maintain water quality and no surveillance for disease monitoring and control through regular netting and prophylactic/preventive measures were observed in all of the few existing fish farms. Lack of capital, critical inputs, proper ownership of ponds/water resources and knowledge were high-ranking problems in most cases (over 70%). Scientific and logical explanation on realities of over 15 superficial subscriptions and needed policy, extension approaches, institutional arrangements and support provisions are discussed. The scenarios observed/recommendations made here hold good for most part of India and other countries.

A. K. Bhargava has an expertise of more than 35 years in Marine Fisheries survey in the Indian EEZ. He had served as a Zonal Director in Fishery Survey of India, a subordinate office of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. He is a recognized guide in Mumbai University and had guided students to a Ph.D. degree in Marine Fisheries especially in stock assessment, fish biology, and biodiversity. He is instrumental in scientific research especially in Taxonomy, Stock Assessment, and Fishery Oceanography and has a strong administration and fine teaching experience. He had coordinated many International and National research and development oriented projects. He had enormous research publications in peer-reviewed Journals and author of many books published by Fishery Survey of India.

A tropical country like India is blessed with highly diverse marine fishery resources in its 2.02 million square kilometer Exclusive Economic Zone, with an annual harvestable potential of about 4.4 million metric tonnes. The coastline of peninsular India runs over 9 states and 2 Union Territories (UT) and is bound by the Arabian Sea in the west and Bay of Bengal in the east. The western coastal states are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala and the eastern coastal states are Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. The UTs which have sea-line running along their borders are Daman & Diu and Puducherry. The Andaman & Nicobar Islands are separated from the peninsular Indiaand contributes significantly to the marine fisheries. The Indian marine fisheries sector provides livelihood to nearly 4.0 million people and contributes to export earnings of the country to the tune of 30,000/- crores annually. In the year 2016, it has been estimated the marine fish landings for peninsular India as 3.63 million tonnes which has witnessed an increase of 6.6% compared to 2015. West coast contributed a major share of 64% to the total landings. The northwest region has the maximum quantity with 11.8 lakh tonnes of landings (33%). The south-west region follows the northwest with 11.1 lakh tonnes (31%). The south-east region and north-east region contributed 9.4 lakh tonnes (26%) and 4.0 lakh tonnes (10%) respectively. In marine fish production, Gujarat remained as the major producer followed by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Pelagic resources contributed 52% to the total landings of the country with major share of Indian mackerel, oil sardine and ribbonfish. Demersal finfish constitute 29% in which threadfin breams, croakers and Priacanthus spp. were found as the major groups. The share of crustacean landings was assessed at 12% of the total landings and that of molluscan resources at only 7% where squids and cuttlefishes got the maximum share. Indian mackerel have been placed in the top spot of the major resources obtained from Indian waters in 2016 with an estimate of 2.5 lakh tonnes. For the first time since 1999, oil sardine was not ranked the top species in terms of catch as it fell below Indian mackerel. Since 2013, oil sardine landings continued to show a decreasing trend, with an estimate of 2.45 lakh tonnes in 2016. The anchovies landing in the year 2016 is estimated to be 1.42 lakh tonnes.

Zakir Hossain is working as an Associate Professor from January 2016 to present in the Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh where he is continuing his research on lipids. From July 2012 to December 2015 has worked as a Research Associate in the Department of Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba under the supervision of Professor Dr James K Friel. There also he worked on dietary lipids metabolism to the preterm infants. From 2009 to 2012 he has worked as an Associate Professor in the Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh. He has supervised 14 Master’s students who did their research on lipids (2009-present).

In the present study sperm quality, histological structure of the liver and developmental stages of ovary, level of Ca2+ concentration, embryonic development and larval growth were investigated for the confirmation of the positive effects of PUFAs in reproduction and gonadal maturation of gangetic leaffish, Nandus nandus and gourami, Colisa fasciatus. Treated group was fed 1% squid extracted phospholipid supplemented diet whereas controlled group was fed with the same, except phospholipid. In comparison to the control group, treated group exhibited higher gonadal maturation which resulted in spontaneous spawning. The live sperm count was significantly higher (P<0.01) in treated group compared to control group. During the peak breeding (April) season in case of treated group most of the oocytes were found at nuclear migration and tertiary yolk oocyte stage while in case of control group most of them were found in primary and secondary yolk oocyte stage. During spawning season lipid granules and normal morphological structures of hepatocytes with enlarged nucleus and considerable amount of vacuoles were observed in case of phospholipid treated fish liver whereas less lipid granules with scattered necrosis and large vacuoles in cytoplasm with polarized nucleus were observed in control group. The serum Ca2+ concentration in treated females were significantly higher (P<0.05) in contrast to the controlled females of both the fishes during the breeding season. The experiment suggests that supplementation of dietary PUFAs eventually improve the spawning performances of fish.

Atul K Singh is the director of ICAR-Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research, Bhimtal, Uttarakhand. His international experience includes various programs, contributions and participation in different countries for diverse fields of study. His research interests as a Scientist reflect in his/her wide range of publications in various national and international journals.

The mountainous regions in the Himalayan states of India is endowed with copious amounts of highly oxygenated pristine freshwater highly suitable for culturing rainbow trout, which is a robust and fast growing salmonid fish farmed across the globe. Eventually after its introduction in India in the early 20th century, rainbow trout is fast becoming the most remunerative cold water fish that provides livelihood and food security to the hill population. The present annual rainbow trout production in India is nearly 842 tons from 62 government trout farms and 660 private trout production units distributed across the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Serial and parallel flow through raceway culture systems is widely used. In terms of seed and feed production capacity, there are 32 government affiliated rainbow trout hatcheries with an estimated production capacity of 13 million eyed ova and 3 well equipped feed mills with an installed capacity of nearly 10 tons per day. Considering the huge gap between the actual and potential trout production, the ICAR-Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research is undertaking concerted research and development efforts to expand and intensify rainbow trout production, in partnership with the concerned state fisheries departments. Spatial decision support system has been employed to generate GIS based site suitability maps for trout culture. To minimize land and water usage in trout culture, water recirculation system has been developed on trial basis. Laying the base for genetic improvement programs, genetic variability in different rainbow trout stocks has been characterized using DNA marker technologies. Moreover, rainbow trout brood banking and triploid production trials have been initiated. Comprehensive disease surveillance is continually undertaken and diagnostic/control methods are being developed. Cost-effective feeds with better feed conversion ratio have been developed and the use of sustainable feed ingredients is being evaluated. Farm operation and activities like fish seed transportation are being scientifically optimized. The concept of cluster farming modules and culture chains are also gradually introduced and promoted by sharing technical knowledge and science base culture technology that facilitate high returns on investment. All these multipronged strategies will stimulate vertical and horizontal expansion of trout production in India.

Ernesto A Chavez did his PhD in 1978. He is the Professor of the Marine Sciences Research Centre of the Polytechnic Institute in La Paz, Mexico. His research interests are Bio economic assessment of fisheries by simulation, impact of climate on fisheries, coral reef ecology. He is the teacher of the courses, fisheries simulation, fisheries management and coral reef ecology at the graduate program of his research centre. He has been adviser of 25 MSc thesis B Sc, 16 at the MSc Program and 5 at Ph D level. He has led 17 research projects and has collaborated on another 16. He has published more than 150 scientific papers, including the co-edition of a book on the coral reefs of the south Gulf of Mexico (2007), translated into Spanish (2010).

Traditionally, the management of fisheries is based on the goal of maximum sustainable yield (MSY), benchmark of fisheries biology, but over time it has become apparent that at this point, sustainability was not reached completely; thus it has been established as a benchmark target, the maximum economic return (MEY), if it is known. Because, estimated values of the Fishing mortality (F) are based on the MSY, and since this is the threshold of production, fisheries easily exceed its value. Then, it has been necessary to establish other levels as reference targets in an arbitrary fashion, because of the ignorance of MEY. Each benchmark target is fixed below the FMSY, since the FMEY always lies in a value lower than apex of the MSY curve. Only a small proportion of fisheries take into account the complexity of the activity and the resource capacity to regenerate itself. At this point, a little variation in F generates significant changes. It is remarkable to realize that the maximum yield of the world oceans approaches very close to 100 Mmt and the biomass of all the exploited stocks is near to 200 Mmt. Another important point to call the attention is that in most cases, the MSY was attained more than a decade ago and the current yield and stock biomass are nearly 40 per cent below those maxima. This is something to be concerned and should be considered as a possible indicator of excessive pressure on the fish stocks. Evidently, the over exploited fisheries have passed by several stages already pointed by several authors and unfortunately, the perspective suggests that other world oceans apart from those of the Antarctic, will follow the same steps towards depletion, if no action is taken by the nations to ensure exploiting the sea in a sustainable way.

Cassio Aurelio Suski holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (2001), a Master's degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (2004), and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at UFSC (2011). He did his Post-doctorate in Steel Research Project Maraging 350. He is currently a Professor, Researcher and is the Head of Teaching, Research and Extension of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Santa Catarina - Campus Itajaí. He has experience in Mechanical Engineering, with emphasis in Materials Engineering, Business Administration and Risk Management, as well as in Educational Management and Equipment Development.

Nowadays, in general, all the crabs processed in Brazil are produced clandestinely and there are few national companies, legal and with SIF (Federal Inspection Services) producing the species at the present time. The few brands that display the product on the national market, label holders approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, inadvertently buy the raw material already processed by clandestine informal beneficiaries and only pack it. In the last decades, some equipment for the processing of crabs has been patented, but none is intended for the extraction of the dried meat of the crabs, that is, all have as their end result the crab pate (wet meat). The developed prototype provided a more efficient alternative in the extraction of crab meat in relation to traditional techniques of purely manual extraction and Mechanically Separated Meat (CMS). Manual extraction is practiced by the national processors, whose productivity is low and the operational cost high, preventing Brazil from exporting the product to demanding countries, such as the USA and China, and even increasing domestic consumption. The extraction of CMS is already carried out, but the product obtained by this method (crab pate) does not meet the internationally required specifications nor by the domestic market. The developed prototype results in two distinct products, the crab pate and the dried meat. The extraction of the dried meat, by means of the principle of the generation of vacuum and without crushing it, that is to say, maintaining the natural fibers, added a greater value to the product, reduced the cost of the process and made possible the export. In this way the general goal of this prototype was to develop a new method, based on new technology, for the extraction of crab meat, capable of replacing the traditional fleshing practiced in Brazil, unproductive, slow and costly.

Eyal Seroussi is a geneticist oriented towards genomics and bioinformatics. As a principal investigator at the Institute of Animal Science, of the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), the agricultural research arm of the Israeli government, he oversees projects involved with animal genomics. Current aquaculture projects mostly deal with characterization of sex determination (SD) systems in species in which mono-sex cultures have an important impact on the production; including tilapia, mullet, grouper and guppy. In the late 90's, he completed postdoctorate research at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, where he was part of the team that sequenced the first human chromosome. In the post genomic era, he helped to identify major milk QTLs in Holsteins, critical miss-identified genes in chicken (e.g., leptin) and mutations underlying blindness in sheep. He also developed methodologies for the study of DNA copy number variations (CNVs). He hypothesizes that in fishes, SD systems are manifestations of CNVs.

Effective farming of tilapia requires all-male culture, characterized by uniformity and high growth rate. Hybrids between males of O. aureus (Oa) and females of O. niloticus (On) produce all-male offspring, but there is a behavioral reproductive barrier between the two species that prevents mass production. We showed that in repeated crosses between Oa and On, few female "responders" that have On alleles at their sex determination sites on LGs 1, 3 and 22 are attracted to the Oa male nests; and thus resulting in mass fry of males. However, without selection for the alleles underlying this interaction, the parental stock loses its capability of interspecies communication along several generations. Hypothesizing that marker-assisted selection for female responders would allow sustainable broodstocks, we applied Genotyping-By-Sequencing using Illumina HiSeq platform, to DNA samples of 22 and 47 responding and non-responding females, respectively. Sequence reads were mapped onto the On genome (Release 103) using mrsFAST-Ultra, and alleles were called by the GenomeAnalysisTK module (GATK3). Following flirtation, 5019 informative SNPs were used in a genome-wide-association study, which after accounting for multiple comparisons, pointed to candidate loci for female responsiveness on LGs 9 and 14 (p<0.001). To further validate this finding, the sample was genotyped for 2 and 3 microsatellite markers located near these loci, respectively. Using haplotype analysis based on these microsatellite alleles, we independently determined the pedigree structure and confirmed the association of distinct haplotypes with the female-responsiveness trait (p<0.001). The LG14 haplotype spanned a cluster of olfactory receptors, in which a gene coding for a V2r-like vomeronasal receptor was expressed in tilapia ovary. An allele of the microsatellite marker located within this gene 3’-untranslated-region was highly associated (p=1.2×10-4) with this trait suggesting that genes orthologous to receptors that stimulate sexual activity in mice may also be involved in tilapia female responsiveness.

Khaled M Selim has completed his PhD from Niigata University, Japan and Postdoctoral studies from Faculty of Science, Niigata University, Japan. He was the Lecturer of Fish Diseases and Managements, Zagazig University, Egypt. At present, he is a Researcher in Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. He has published more than 10 papers in reputed journals; 6 of them are published in international journals, while 4 of them were published in local journals.

The aim of this study is to isolate beneficent probiotic bacteria from the gut of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus. This study could be the first specific study to isolate and characterize indigenous potential probiotic strains from the gut of the African catfish. Eighty-nine isolates from Clarias gariepinus gut were screened for in-vitro antibacterial activities against five fish pathogens, strains Aeromonas sobria (A. sobria), Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), Pseudomonas putida (P. putida) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Seven isolates had antibacterial activities with at least one pathogen, and safe after injection intraperitoneally. Confirmatory tests showed that such isolates can survive in the presence of high bile concentrations (10%) and at highly acidic pH. Three strains are sensitive to selected antibiotics. Four and three out of seven strains had amylase and protease activities, respectively. Based on morphological, biochemical tests and 16S rRNA gene analysis, the isolated strains were identified as follows: B. subtilis; Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus cereus, Citrobacter freundii (2 isolates), Leuconostoc sp. and Edwardsiella sp.

Muruganandam Muthiah is a Fulbright Visiting Scientist at Department of Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA. He is a Founder Scientist of Fisheries/Aquatic Science Department at ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (ICAR-IISWC), Dehradun. At IISWC, he is Faculty Member and In-Charge of Fisheries Science. He has over 25 years’ experience on Watershed-Based Fisheries/Aquaculture Research and Training. He has completed/handling 17 research/demonstration projects and published over 100 research/technical papers including five books, two manuals, six technology brochures and two theses. He organized two national conferences besides much training/camps/field demonstrations to diverse stakeholders. He is an active member in over 16 professional societies. He is recipient of over 12 professional recognitions including three National Fellowships and Fulbright award. He was resource person in about 70 national/international training/extension programs. He has attended over 75 national/international conferences/symposia and many technical workshops/meetings and co-chaired few technical sessions. He also visited Auburn University, Alabama, USA as a Visiting Researcher.

Streams and rivers provide various socio-economic and ecological goods and services and are viewed as source of religious entity in most part of the world including India. About 40% of the households settled near the vicinity of rivers in mid-Himalayas depend on fish for food and hence fishing sustains huge population of western Himalayas. Fishing in nearby streams/rivers is observed to be one of the avenues for food and livelihood security after agriculture and animal husbandry especially during agriculture offseasons, food-scarce periods, festivals and visits of guests, at least to part of the population. Culture and traditions are influencing fisheries resources and production over centuries in India, more particularly in Himalayan states. While culture and traditions help conservation of plant and animal resources globally, at times, some of the unique cultural traditions affect natural resources variously on which presently limited knowledge exists. Considering the necessity of analyzing culture and traditions considering its potential for both conservation and destruction field surveys and a review during 2005-2015 were made on the subject with the focus on the impacts of fish and aquatic resources and ecosystems. Religious pollution and ceremonial fishing during fishing festivals, locally known as Maund mela that are organized in medium-order (5-6th) rivers by local communities during last week of every June when monsoon sets-off and the tradition of fishing using 7-8 prominent gears and techniques during different seasons and locations affect fish biodiversity of the region significantly. The indigenous ideas, their scientific and resource management rationale and impacts associated with fishing festivals and fishing traditions are discussed in this paper.

Punhal Khan Lashari is working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Fresh Water Biology and Fisheries, University of Sindh, Pakistan. He is responsible to conduct research in the field of Fish genetics/Fisheries Biology/Aquaculture from various aspects. His research mainly focuses on aquaculture, aquatic ecology, fish biology, fish genetics, and fish health management.

Order Siluriformes includes many commercially and economically important species throughout the world. Here, we investigated genetic relationships and diversity in this order. Sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analyses revealed considerable variations between mitochondrial CO1 genes among twenty-four siluriformes species. The nucleotide frequencies are A=23.80%, T/ U=29.62%, C=26.63%, and G=19.95%. For estimating ML values, a user specified toplogy was used. The maximum Log likelihood for this computation was -9413.645. Estimates of average evolutionary divergence over all sequence and the numbers of base substitutions per site from averaging over all sequence pairs were 4.984. Our results suggest that Batasio tranvancoria formed a single clade; R. Rita, W. Attu, M. Montanus and B. Bagarius comprised a single separate family; and M. Vittatus, M. Horai, B. Tengana, M. Malabaricus, M. Bacourti, M. Singaringan, M. Bleekeri, M. Gulio, M. Multiradiatus, M. Rhegma, M. Cavasius, M. Tengara, S. Aor, S. Seenghala, B. Bajad, B. Filamentosus, B. Macracanthus, P. Siamensis, E. Vacha and B. Travancoria formed single subfamily.

Nyanchiri Elizabeth Mwikali has strong background training in Fisheries and Aquaculture. She has acquired B.Sc Fisheries, M.Phil Aquaculture and now undertaking her Ph.D in Fisheries and Aquaculture. Her expertise and passion is in fish breeding, conservation of endangered fish species and community empowerment. She has demonstrated passion for designing and re-engineering operational processes. As a Lead Consultant-Aquaculture value chain in Kenya, she has mobilized smallholder fish farmers to form cooperatives leading to increased income. I have a special talent in monitoring and evaluation to catch any errors before they ripple outside the production chain, prepare Enterprise Development Plans including costs of implementation, enhance Public Private Partnership (PPP), manage and oversee appropriate utilization of farmer grants. She has developed and expanded network, linkages and collaborations with farmers, institutions and other relevant stakeholders. She has also offered extension services to farmers on Best Management Practices in aquaculture and have taught at the University level.

Singidia tilapia (Oreochromis esculentus) endemic to Lake Victoria and once the most important commercial fish species in the Lake is now enlisted in the World Conservation Union Redbook (IUCN) of endangered species as critically endangered. To rescue this highly valued fish from total extinction, urgent conservational measures, including captive propagation and reintroduction are required. A 120 day experiment was undertaken to investigate the effect of different broodstock sex ratio on the growth and seed output of Oreochromis esculentus reared in hapas. Three different broodstock sex ratios: 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 (male ♂: female ♀) of O. esculentus were tested using spawning hapas each measuring 4 (2×2×1 m3) suspended in an earthen pond (1000 m2) at a depth of approximately 0.5 m. Broodfish were stocked at a density of 6 fish/m2 equivalent to 12 (6♂: 6♀), 12 (4♂:8♀) and 12 (3♂:9♀) fish per spawning hapa, respectively for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd experimental sex ratios. The broodfish were then fed with 35% crude protein feed. Female final weight at harvest was significantly different (f=7.03, p=0.002, df=2) among the different sex ratios with the 1M: 1F attained the highest. The 1♂:1♀ sex ratio recorded significantly (f=4.21, p=0.019, df=2) the highest average weight gain and 1 ♂:3♀ the lowest. Similarly, females in the (1 ♂:1♀) sex ratio produced significantly (f=145.82, p=0.00, df=2) more seed, followed by the (1♂:2♀) and (1♂:3♀) recording the lowest. Broodstock sex ratios also did not significantly affect female survival rates and all treatments had 100% survival rates. From the results of the present study, it is recommended to stock Oreochromis esculentus brooders in the spawning hapas at a sex ratio of 1male:1 female in order to obtain the highest growth and seed output.

Abdulrahman Abubakar Kotos research focus of recent has been informed by the concern on contamination of our water environments, which is a valuable resource. For the past 20 years, he has engaged students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels to identify problems with apparent human and anthropogenic activities in our precious water environments. He has been generally involved in research on the characteristics of rivers and lakes and their effects on the biota and particularly on fish species diversity.

Statement of the Problem: Upper Benue River receives a wide variety of waste from almost every significant human activity. These include mostly the dumping of domestic wastes, sewage and agricultural wastes. Extensive Agricultural activities involving the usage of various forms of fertilizer contribute largely to contamination through run-off. Sediments have also been recognized as the ultimate sink for heavy metals that gives vital information such as the sources, distribution and degree of pollution. The ability to release back the sediment- bound contaminants into the water column and consequently into the food chain within an aquatic environment pose a serious health and environmental hazard. In order to effectively control and manage water pollution, it is imperative to have its clear assessment. Findings: Assessment of physiochemical parameters and heavy metal levels in water, sediments and selected fish species was conducted for the period of 18 months (May,2014- Oct,2015). Data were collected and analyzed appropriately using standard procedures from four different sites monthly, in triplicate. Ranges of water parameters observed were within permissible limits recommended by the various Environmental Protection Agencies and WHO. Copper, nickel and lead were found to be above permissible limits in water. This is same for Cadmium, Chromium and Lead in sediments. Lead was found to be above permissible limits in fish organs A. occidentalis, C. gariepinus and O. niloticus exhibited negative allometric growth (b<3) with significant correlation (P<0.05) between length and weight in A. occidentalis while C. gariepinus and O. niloticus did not correlate significantly (P>0.05) in the study area. The mean condition factor values indicated that not all the fish species were not in good condition during the period of investigation. From this study, Upper Benue River is said to be moderately polluted with heavy metals contamination.

Mario Barletta is an Associate Professor at Oceanography Department of Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. He is responsible for the lecturing of disciplines as Marine Nekton and Ecology of Estuarine Ecosystems at both Under-graduation and Post-graduation levels. He is registered as Master’s and Doctorate Supervisor at the Oceanography Post-Graduation Program (UFPE), and at the Ecology Post-Graduation Program at Nacional University of Colombia (Medellin). Research interests are on estuarine and coastal ecology, experimental design for hypothesis testing and data handling for ecological studies and pollution on marine wildlife. Since 2015, he is an Associate Editor of Frontiers Environmental Science/Marine Science (specialty section of Frontiers in Marine Ecology and Marine Pollution and Environmental Conservation) (Nature Publishing Group - www.frontiers.org).

Changes in the environment and in the composition of fish assemblages in the Paranaguá Estuary (South Brazil) were assessed by comparisons made before, during and after dredging operations, in the same months and areas studied in the previous year. Interactions between year and month were observed for salinity. During the dredging year, fish total density was 2 individuals m−2 and with a total biomass of 104 gm−2 (among 31 species captured). For the same period the year before, 0·3 individuals m−2 and 3 gm−2 were captured (38 species). The number of species showed significant time v. month interactions, if fish species composition varied for both year and month. Total mean density and biomass showed significant differences for interaction time v. month, and density and biomass in the dredging month September 2001 in the main channel were scientifically different from other months. Interaction times v. area were significant for Cathorops spixii (increased biomass), Aspistorl uniscutis (increased density), Menticirrhus americanus (decreased biomass) and Cynoscion leiarchus (decreased density and biomass). This suggests that during the dredging process there is a change in the structure of the demersal fish assemblage. The impact (damage and mortality) induced by dredging on the macrobenthic animals along the dredge path attracted adults of C. spixii that reached densities 10 times greater than in the year before. On the other hand, sciaenid species practically disappeared. To contribute to the conservation of the estuarine fish fauna, and maintain fisheries production of the Paranaguá Estuary and surrounding areas, it is recommended that, dredging should be done from the late rainy season to the early dry season. Decisions must consider the ecological cycles of socio-economically important fish species and prioritize the safe disposal of dredged.

Johnathan Szeliga is a graduate student at the University of Guelph working on his master’s thesis in Animal Nutrition in Dr. Dominique Bureau’s Fish Nutrition Lab. As part of his thesis he has joined Dr. Wael Ahmed’s Research Team from the University of Guelph’s School of Engineering that is working on improving the energy efficiency in aquaculture through the testing and implementation of the novel airlift design. His focus on the project will be assessing the pump’s ability to maintain ideal water quality conditions for rainbow trout through oxygenation, carbon dioxide stripping and waste removal through water flow.

One of the major operating costs in recirculating aquaculture systems is the energy cost needed to operate centrifugal pumps in such systems. Due to the economic and environmental impact of maintaining high-power usage of this equipment, energy saving technologies in aquaculture operations will significantly impact both the profitability and sustainability of the business. Therefore, a novel airlift pump design was developed in order to reduce power consumption in these facilities. The new technology offers a sustainable solution for aquaculture systems. This will be achieved by using airlift pumps for simultaneous water circulation and aeration in these systems. The new design of airlift pumps will significantly improve the system efficiency and consequently reduces the total energy consumption in aquaculture systems compared to systems operating by conventional pumps. In order to test the applicability of the novel airlift, experiments were carried out in the field at commercial aquaculture sites to evaluate their operational performance. Air is supplied by an air compressor (a) into a line which gets split two ways between an airline feeding the radial mode of injection (b) and the axial mode of injection (c). The endings of these lines lead into compartments in the pump (d) which allow for different gas bubble sizes to be formed. The arrows depict the movement of water in and out of the pump. The frame for suspending the pump in the water has not been depicted as that part of the design varies for each testing site. The trial locations include: circular flow-through tanks, floating pond raceways, and indoor recirculating systems. Parameters being measured in these systems include: flow, velocity, and oxygenation; with future trials to include potential of carbon dioxide stripping and flow effect on removal of ammonia. So far, velocity and aeration tests have been performed at the flow-through circular tank, as well as water flow readings at raceways. When comparing velocity readings of the circular fish tank using the novel airlifts to the aeration/water dispersion system already in use at the farm, the new pumps provide equivalent or better velocity readings, with much more energy savings. Water oxygenation was also found to be slightly better when comparing the present technology and the conventional methods used by the farms. Also, Initial water flow readings are slightly underperforming the performance curves modeled in the lab for 4” diameter pipe airlifts, yet are over performing ones for the 6” diameter airlifts. In conclusion, the initial tests show significant potential for using the present airlift design over conventional systems that are currently used in fish production. However, there are still further studies that are needed in order to fully compare airlift pumps to centrifugal pumps in terms of total energy efficiency in aquaculture.

Formanyi Anthonia Nzemu holds the Cameroon GCE Ordinary and Advanced level certificates in sciences and later enrolled in the National Centre for Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Training where she acquired a Brevet de Technicien in Aquaculture. Being mature in age, enthusiastic and ambitious, she has built up an interest on forging through a sustainable future via my profession. She has been following up his training for the last 10 years with great perception and a lot of research work at various levels of her career. She intends to further my career by taking on a specialist domain in Canada or America which has the best educational facilities in the world.

The pathogenic microflora of three anatomical sites (skin, gills and intestine) of fifty (50) fishes belonging to twenty-one genera, as well as water samples collected from Limbe and Tiko beaches were analyzed, using standard methods. The susceptibility pattern of the bacterial isolated to some commonly prescribed antibiotics was also investigated by the Kirby-Bauer method. A total of 275 bacterial isolates, all belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae, were obtained. Eleven bacteria species were indentified: Esherichia coli type 1, citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter cloacae, Serratia marcescens, serratia odorifera, Hafnia alvei, Proteus vulgaris, Proteus penneri, klebsiella preumoniae, klebsiella oxytoca, klebsiella ozaenae. These organisms are either true pathogens or potential ones. Both fish and water samples were contaminated with these bacteria species. The specimens from the Limbe estuary were more contaminated (61.4&) than the specimens from Tiko creek (38.6%). Also the specimens from Limbe estuary had a higher bacteria load (58.8%) than Tiko creek (41.2%). Ranking the contamination of fish anatomical sites, it was observed that the skin was the most contaminated site while the gills were least contaminated. Gprofloxacin and ofloxacin were the most effective drugs against the isolates as all isolates exhibited 100% sensitivity to these drugs. Isolated were 100% resistant to imepenam compared to Ampicillin (60.4&). Our study has adduced that fish are sources of human pathogenic bacteria; hence fish from these areas must be adequately prepared before consumption.

Muhammad Ishaq is presently the Director of Science organization. He has completed his MS in Chemistry and Zoology from Research based Institute of Pakistan. He is the Member of National Academy of Young Scientists (NAYS), Pakistan. As a Chemist and Zoologist, he has shown active contribution in the field of science. He has participated in different workshops and seminars related to different fields. He has got a deep insight into Advanced Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Zoology and Experimental Statistics. Recently he has completed research on persistent organic pollutants in the river Swat “districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan”. Furthermore he is very much interested to attend conferences and seminars on international level where he would create new ideas and discuss it with scientific communities to make it beneficial for the living organisms in near future.

Freshwater aquatic organisms can be exposed to hundreds of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) discharged through natural and anthropogenic activities. Given our limited resources, it is necessary to identify, from the existing evidence, which is the greatest threat so that control measures can be targeted wisely. The focus of this study was to rank POPs according to the relative risk they represent for the aquatic organisms in rivers in the Swat Region, Pakistan. A list of 13 POPs was compiled based on the available data regarding their presence in these rivers and ecotoxicological data. Those that were widely detected were benzo [a] pyrene, p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDT, fluoranthene, heptachlor, hexabromocyclododecane, hexachlorobenzene, α-hexachlorocyclohexane, γ-hexachlorocyclohexane, naphthalene, perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulfonate and phenanthrene. Effect concentrations were compiled for Pakistani relevant and standard test species and compared with river aqueous concentrations. Only bed-sediment concentrations were available so that water levels could be calculated based on the known local sediment organic carbon concentration and the Koc. The POPs were ranked, based on the ratio between the median river and median effect concentrations. Of the POPs studied, fluoranthene was ranked as the highest threat, followed by phenanthrene, naphthalene and p,p'-DDE. The risk from p,p'-DDE may be magnified due to being highly bio-accumulative. However, the greatest overlap between river concentrations and effect levels was for lindane. Overall, fish was the most sensitive species group to the risks from POPs. Hotspots with the highest concentrations and hence risk were mainly associated with watercourses draining in Mingora, the biggest city in the Swat region.

Katrina L Canon is a faculty of Bicol University Tabaco Campus, Tayhi Tabaco City, Albay, Philippines. She has been teaching chemistry tool courses and foundation courses in the Education, Fisheries and Food Technology Departments. She has been into food security and environmental science research and extension activities. She has been more into developing materials for information dissemination for various stakeholders or target audience. Not only that the results of research or extension activities are disseminated, she has been looking forward to see actions taken by the target audience in response to the information they have acquired.

Statement of the Problem: Presence of contaminants in water is an important issue in the rural coastal areas. Island communities like Sagurong, San Miguel Island having no water treatment facilities and generally release effluents to different bodies of water. Given that the area has a marine protected area it will be a drawback on the overall objective of increasing the biomass of aquatic flora and fauna. More so, this study has evaluated the presence of surfactants and Pb in the area for information dissemination and possible action by the resident.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: The socio-economic profile of Sagurong has been updated through the use of a validated researcher-made instrument which was used as a guide during interview. Using purposive sampling method, water and bivalve samples were collected from the identified sites during May and August, 2016 for AAS and MBAS.

Findings: Analysis indicated that water samples from upstream (0.64mg/L) and sites 4 (0.527mg/L) and 5 (0.015mg/L) exceeded the 0.01mg/L MRL for Pb per DAO No. 2016-08 for Class SA waters. However during the wet month (August, 2016), water samples collected from MPA sites (0.748 mg/L; 0.722 mg/L) were found to exceed the MRLs. But bivalves samples collected during the wet and dry months have also exceeded the 1.5 mg/kg MRLs set by EU, 2010. On the other hand, surfactant levels in both water and bivalve samples were beyond the MRLs of DAO 2016-08.

Sonia K Mumbah has experience in monitoring of fisheries resources, through BMU management issues, in inspecting fish and fish handling facilities at fish landing site and markets and experience in fish identification, data collection and interpretation. Her expertise in fisheries management and passion in improving the status on the marine resources and the stakeholder has increased the knowledge and understand of a healthy ocean to the community.

In recent years, additional but potentially harmful fishing gears have penetrated into the artisanal fisheries in Kenya, posing great management challenges. The continued use of spears in fishing, despite their discouraged use due to perceived environmental and societal negative impact, has raised a lot of concern and debate in the Kenyan artisanal marine and coastal fisheries sub-sector. The impacts of spearfishing in terms of catch composition, diversity and size-frequency in Vanga and Msambweni, South Coast of Kenya were obtained in this study. Both in Vanga and Msambweni spearfishing is highly done especially by young fishermen during low tides. Two months data collection (October and December) in 2012 on fish catch composition reveals significant differences between fish captured by spear gun and other most used gears in both sites. The difference in fish composition was attributed to more abundant families and species captured by spear gun compared to Malema, Hook and line and Gillnet. Diversity by species richness for fish was significantly higher under the usage of a spear gun. In addition, significant higher Shannon-Wiener diversity index lower dominance was observed for the fish captured by the spear gun than for those captured by the other gears. The size distribution of fish captured by spear gun was large; all sizes all fish were captured by the spear gun regardless of the species (11 cm to 30 cm). The impact of spear fishing resulted in higher abundance of Lutjanus fulviflamma in Vanga and Octopus macropus in Msambweni.