High Yields of Shrimp Oil Rich in Omega-3 and Natural Astaxanthin from Shrimp Waste

A valued marine oil rich in omega-3 lipids and natural astaxanthin is obtained with remarkably high yield (up to 5 wt %) extending to pink shrimp waste (head and carapace) using the approach to extract fish oil from fish processing byproducts using d-limonene. Biobased limonene is an excellent solvent for both unsaturated lipids and astaxanthin-based carotenoids preventing oxidative degradation during the extraction cycle including solvent separation at 85 °C. Explaining the deep red color of the shrimp oil obtained, computational simulation suggests that d-limonene is also a good solvent for natural astaxanthin abundant in shrimp

Depredation in pelagic surface longlines in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Depredation has aroused great interest over the last few decades, mainly due to the expansion of distant fishing, in particular longlines. For this study, captures and depredation records were taken by scientific observers on board Portuguese commercial longline vessels in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans between 2011 and 2016. A total of 1,336 fishing sets were monitored, with a total of 86,183 fish captured, including 1,681 depredation events. The percentage of depredation tended to increase along the time series, except in the last year where a decrease was noted. Significant differences between sizes of swordfish Xiphias gladius damaged by predators were observed in the Indian Ocean but not in the Atlantic. The highest proportions of depredation were observed on tuna and small pelagic fishes in both oceans. For swordfish, the effects of spatial variables were significant on the rate of depredation events. The results provide an overview of the depredation patterns in the Portuguese pelagic longline fishery in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, which can inform and improve fisheries management and contribute to the development of effective mitigation measures to reduce the impacts of depredation on fisheries.FCT IF/00253/2014info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Review: Towards the agroecological management of ruminants, pigs and poultry through the development of sustainable breeding programmes. II. Breeding strategies

Agroecology uses ecological processes and local resources rather than chemical inputs to develop productive and resilient livestock and crop production systems. In this context, breeding innovations are necessary to obtain animals that are both productive and adapted to a broad range of local contexts and diversity of systems. Breeding strategies to promote agroecological systems are similar for different animal species. However, current practices differ regarding the breeding of ruminants, pigs and poultry. Ruminant breeding is still an open system where farmers continue to choose their own breeds and strategies. Conversely, pig and poultry breeding is more or less the exclusive domain of international breeding companies which supply farmers with hybrid animals. Innovations in breeding strategies must therefore be adapted to the different species. In developed countries, reorienting current breeding programmes seems to be more effective than developing programmes dedicated to agroecological systems that will struggle to be really effective because of the small size of the populations currently concerned by such systems. Particular attention needs to be paid to determining the respective usefulness of cross-breeding v. straight breeding strategies of well-adapted local breeds. While cross-breeding may offer some immediate benefits in terms of improving certain traits that enable the animals to adapt well to local environmental conditions, it may be difficult to sustain these benefits in the longer term and could also induce an important loss of genetic diversity if the initial pure-bred populations are no longer produced. As well as supporting the value of within-breed diversity, we must preserve between-breed diversity in order to maintain numerous options for adaptation to a variety of production environments and contexts. This may involve specific public policies to maintain and characterize local breeds (in terms of both phenotypes and genotypes), which could be used more effectively if they benefited from the scientific and technical resources currently available for more common breeds. Last but not least, public policies need to enable improved information concerning the genetic resources and breeding tools available for the agroecological management of livestock production systems, and facilitate its assimilation by farmers and farm technicians

Molecular and morphological characterization of the predatory mite Amblyseius largoensis (Acari: Phytoseiidae): surprising similarity between an Asian and American populations.

Na publicação: Denise Navia