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New paper on lumpfish welfare

Research led by Swansea University scientists at the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research (CSAR), published in Reviews in Aquaculture on the 18th of July 2021 offers 16 practical solutions for improving the welfare of lumpfish and illustrates the merits of the Delphi approach for achieving consensus among stakeholders on welfare needs, targeting research where is most needed and generating workable solutions.

Text by Dr Sara Barrento
Image credits: @CSAR

 

Precision Aquaculture in the Blue Economy talk now available to watch

The keynote by Dr Sara Barrento on the 26th of June during the free webinar on Precision Aquaculture in the Blue Economy is now available to watch on YouTube (timeline 14:50).

Dr. Sara Barrento introduced the topic and showcased the importance of precision aquaculture through the Access2Sea project in lumpfish welfare management and restorative farming.

Text and images by Dr Sara Barrento

Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research, Swansea University

Swansea University: LINC – The blue Economy webinar

Prof. Carlos Garcia de Leaniz gave a keynote at the LINC event, focusing on The Blue Economy, on the 21st of June 2021. The event is available to watch on YouTube and focuses on the Blue Economy which is increasingly important to Wales in economic, sustainability, and climate change terms.

Prof.  Carlos Garcia de Leaniz showcased many of the activities taking place at the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research including the Access2Sea project pilot on lumpfish welfare.

Text and images by Dr Sara Barrento
Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research, Swansea University

 

 

Precision Aquaculture in the Blue Economy

Dr. Sara Barrento gave a keynote on the 26th of June during the free webinar on Precision Aquaculture in the Blue Economy. The program included live demonstrations on intelligent tools, advanced modeling systems, and cloud-based integrations for real-time monitoring of the behaviour, health, feeding, safety, quality, and environment.

Dr. Sara Barrento introduced the topic and showcased the importance of precision aquaculture through the Access2Sea project in lumpfish welfare management and restorative farming.

The event will be available on YouTube.

 

Text and images by Dr Sara Barrento

Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research, Swansea University

WEBINAR on Marine Spatial Planning

 

Údarás na Gaeltachta is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting, Flyer and agenda PDF download here

When: Jul 6, 2021 10:00 AM Dublin

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvduGvrT8oGNJavL7bS2izQ1qx2EvSLSOW

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 

 

 

Application of sensors in precision aquaculture: presentation available to download

Over 150 participants attended the webinar on the Application of sensors in precision aquaculture, on the 25th of May, 2021. The presentations are now available to download.

  1. Setting the stage: what is precision aquaculture?
    Dr Sara Barrento, Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research (CSAR), Swansea University
  2. Access2Sea: New Opportunities for More Competitive and Sustainable Blue Growth in the Atlantic Zone
    Dr Sara Barrento, Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research (CSAR), Swansea University
  3. STREAM: Sensor Technologies for Remote Environmental Aquatic Monitoring
    Prof. Carlos Garcia de Leaniz, Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research (CSAR), Swansea University
  4. Application of sensors for fish health and welfare in aquaculture
    Dr Sofia Teixeira, Tyndall National Institute, Ireland
  5. Overview of Printable Sensors
    Prof. David Gethin, The Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating (WCPC), Swansea University
  6. Shellfish Aquaculture and Sensor Deployment in the Southeast of Ireland
    Brian O’Loan, Bord Iascaigh Mhara
  7. Coastal Monitoring Radar
    Paul Shanahan, National Maritime College of Ireland
  8. Aquaculture at the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research using sensors
    Paul Howes, Dr Pete Jones, and Dr Josh Jones, Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research, Swansea University
  9. Reverse engineering a machine vision solution for aquaculture
    Gyopár Elekes, faptic.xyz
  10. SeaLens technology to monitor 3D aquaculture in Wales
    Christian Berger, PEBL- Plant Ecology Beyond Land


Lumpfish at the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research

Looking after lumpfish

A recent article published by the Fish Farmer Magazine reports on Access2Sea funded research carried by the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research (CSAR) on lumpfish welfare and advances the upcoming tools being developed to better access lumpfish welfare.

The article is available to read on pages 48-49.
The article published in the journal Aquaculture is also free to download.

Application of Sensors in Precision Aquaculture | Free webinar 25 May 2021 from 10:00 to 12:20 Western European Time Zone (WET)

Swansea University in collaboration with the Waterford Institute of Technology welcomes you to this free webinar focusing on the application of sensors in aquaculture.
We will showcase a range of cutting-edge sensors being developed in Wales and Ireland which will support aquaculture companies in decision-making to help make ecological aquaculture an achievable target.

 

REGISTER 

Free webinar 25 May 2021 from 10:00 to 12:20 (WET)

Program Agenda

Western European Time zone (WET)

 

This webinar is supported by:

  • Access2Sea European Project, funded by the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme through the European Regional Development Fund. The project runs from March 2019 to February 2022.
  • STREAM: Sensor Technologies for Remote Environmental Aquatic Monitoring, funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales Cooperation programme.

The Second Symposium on Welfare in Aquaculture puts fish welfare on the spotlight

A total of 262 participants from 38 countries attended the Second Symposium on Welfare in Aquaculture. This year the symposium was delivered online on the 26th of November and focused on Operational Welfare Indicators (OWI) for salmon, lumpfish, tilapia, sea bass, and sea bream. The webinar is available on YouTube and the talks can be downloaded from the symposium website.

The symposium is a follow up from the very successful SWELA 2019, focusing on Welfare Indicators for Novel species. The number of farmed fish outnumbers by far any other sentient animals farmed for food.

 

A recent report by the Access2Sea project highlighted that consumers are starting to realize how their food is produced; consumers more sensitive to the welfare of animals and the wellbeing of workers – fish welfare in aquaculture is extremely important.

The Director of CSAR, Professor Carlos Garcia de Leaniz, at  Swansea University, welcomed the participants and highlighted three main reasons for hosting this second symposium:  the increasing awareness of fish welfare, the link between fish welfare and fish health, and the need for operational welfare indicators (OWIs) that can be used by fish farmers.

 

 

 

 

Prof. Lluis Tort of the Autonomous University of Barcelona presented a keynote talk on Indicators of Welfare Status for Cultured Fish. Professor Tort explained the real challenges for measuring welfare in farmed fish and noted that despite fish being the most “used” animals worldwide (30,000 million/year), their welfare needs are the least well known. It was also highlighted that most scientists, and also the majority of consumers (73%) , now accept that fish can feel pain.

 

 

 

Dr. Lars Helge Stien, of the Institute of Marine Research, focused on OWI for salmon and explained the challenges of measuring welfare in a cage environment with thousands of individuals; he also explained the different welfare indicators and the merits of having clear decision flow-charts and 3-alert levels which are relevant for fish farmers.

 

 

 

 

The OWIs for lumpfish were discussed by Carolina Gutierrez-Rabadan of CSAR – Swansea University. She explained the challenges of defining welfare for novel farmed species such as the lumpfish and provided examples of the importance of measuring the reliability in OWIs, and the need for simplification and validation. Carolina presented a practical Lumpfish Operational Welfare Score Index (LOWSI) and highlighted that most lumpfish she sampled in salmon farms were in good condition (70%) with only 2% in poor welfare status.

 

 

 

Dr. Sonia Rey Planellas of Stirling University pointed out that there are few or no OWIs for tilapia, which is the second most important farmed fish in the world. Tilapia is farmed mostly in developing countries where welfare needs may not always be a priority. Another challenge is the complex social behaviour and aggression shown by this species

 

 

 

 

Professor Michalis Pavlidis, of the University of Crete, discussed the different welfare challenges posed by sea bass and sea bream at different production stages; he highlighted the need to keep the temperature within optimal limits as a key welfare consideration for these very important Mediterranean farmed fish. Professor Pavlidis highlighted the big improvements that the industry has made to make slaughtering more humane.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Sofia Teixeira of Tyndall Institute in Ireland presented non-invasive, rapid tests using smart sensors which can be used to monitor health by measuring indicators such as cortisol and other parameters that have wide applications in the assessment of immune competence, stress, growth, and behaviour.

 

 

 

 

The Symposium ended with Prof. Carlos Garcia de Leaniz summarizing the talks and inviting attendants to the next Symposium on Welfare in Aquaculture which will be hosted in Crete in 2021.

 

 

 

 

Text and images by Dr Sara Barrento

Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research, Swansea University

Access2Sea at Swansea Science Festival

The Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research had the pleasure to be part of the Welsh largest free science festival last Saturday (24 Oct 2020). We were live but virtual, in the fringe stage. We had the opportunity to launch our video where we showcased our research and unique aquaculture facilities in the UK. Participants were very engaged and had many questions about fish invasive species (brown trout) in the Falklands. Jess Minnette is finishing her PhD and had the opportunity to share her exciting research in this remote South Atlantic archipelago.

There were also many questions about sustainable diets in aquaculture and the role of fats such as omega-3 from microalgae oil. Some concerns were raised about heavy metals in fish and the differences between farmed fish and wild fish. Sergio Trevi had the opportunity to introduce his PhD research on farmed tilapia. Dr Sara Barrento explained the differences between macro and microalgae and introduced the Access2Sea project. While Paul Howes shared some exciting news about the new biophilic building project at Swansea.

Text by Dr Sara Barrento

Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research, Swansea University

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