Aquatic food security:insights into challenges and solutions from an analysis of interactions between fisheries, aquaculture, food safety, human health, fish and human welfare, economy and environment

Fisheries and aquaculture production, imports, exports and equitability of distribution determine the supply of aquatic food to people. Aquatic food security is achieved when a food supply is sufficient, safe, sustainable, shockproof and sound: sufficient, to meet needs and preferences of people; safe, to provide nutritional benefit while posing minimal health risks; sustainable, to provide food now and for future generations; shock-proof, to provide resilience to shocks in production systems and supply chains; and sound, to meet legal and ethical standards for welfare of animals, people and environment. Here, we present an integrated assessment of these elements of the aquatic food system in the United Kingdom, a system linked to dynamic global networks of producers, processors and markets. Our assessment addresses sufficiency of supply from aquaculture, fisheries and trade; safety of supply given biological, chemical and radiation hazards; social, economic and environmental sustainability of production systems and supply chains; system resilience to social, economic and environmental shocks; welfare of fish, people and environment; and the authenticity of food. Conventionally, these aspects of the food system are not assessed collectively, so information supporting our assessment is widely dispersed. Our assessment reveals trade-offs and challenges in the food system that are easily overlooked in sectoral analyses of fisheries, aquaculture, health, medicine, human and fish welfare, safety and environment. We highlight potential benefits of an integrated, systematic and ongoing process to assess security of the aquatic food system and to predict impacts of social, economic and environmental change on food supply and demand

Guidance on a better integration of aquaculture, fisheries, and other activities in the coastal zone: from tools to practical examples

This guidance document provides a comprehensive assessment of the conflicts and synergies between fisheries, aquaculture and other activities in the coastal zone in six COEXIST case study areas. It forms deliverable D5.2 of the COEXIST project and synthesises deliverable D5.1, which provides a more detailed description of the methods used and results. This document also accounts for the views and expectations of stakeholders that were raised at the COEXIST stakeholder workshop held in Bergen, Norway, parallel to the ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) Annual Science Conference 2012. Over 30 stakeholders representing a variety of sectors, including aquaculture, fisheries, coastal zone management, tourism and energy, as well as 20 members from the COEXIST project and ICES representatives, attended this event. The stakeholders and COEXIST members were from Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The workshop aims were firstly to communicate the COEXIST project results and progress to stakeholders and the second major aim was to receive stakeholder feedback on the development of best practice guidance for spatial planning to integrate fisheries, aquaculture and further demands in the coastal zone

Comparative susceptibility of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout to Yersinia ruckeri: relationship to O antigen serotype and resistance to serum killing

A study was undertaken to compare the virulence and serum killing resistance properties of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout Yersinia ruckeri isolates. Five isolates, covering heat-stable O-antigen O1, O2 and O5 serotypes, were tested for virulence towards fry and juveniles of both species by experimental bath challenge. The sensitivity of 15 diverse isolates to non-immune salmon and rainbow trout serum was also examined. All five isolates caused significant mortality in salmon fry. Serotype O1 isolate 06059 caused the highest mortality in salmon (74% and 70% in fry and juveniles, respectively). Isolate 06041, a typical ERM-causing serotype O1 UK rainbow trout strain, caused mortalities in both rainbow trout and salmon. None of the salmon isolates caused any mortalities in 150–250 g rainbow trout, and only serotype O2 isolate 06060 caused any significant mortality (10%) in rainbow trout fry. Disease progression and severity was affected by water temperature. Mortality in salmon caused by the isolates 06059 and 05094 was much higher at 16 °C (74% and 33%, respectively) than at 12 °C (30 and 4% respectively). Virulent rainbow trout isolates were generally resistant to sera from both species, whereas salmon isolates varied in their serum sensitivity. Convalescent serum from salmon and rainbow trout that had been infected by serotype O1 isolates mediated effective classical pathway complement killing of serotype O1 and O5 isolates that were resistant to normal sera. Overall, strains recovered from infected salmon possess a wider range of phenotypic properties (relative virulence, O serotype and possession of serum-resistance factors), compared to ERM-causing rainbow trout isolates

Characterisation of a serotype O1 Yersinia ruckeri isolate from the Isle of Man: further evidence that O antigen serotype is not a reliable indicator of virulence

As part of a routine disease surveillance exercise, a culture of the Gram negative bacterial pathogen Yersinia ruckeri was obtained from one of 150 largely asymptomatic rainbow trout from a farm on the Isle of Man, an island off the North West coast of Great Britain. This is the first reported isolation of Y. ruckeri from the Isle of Man. The isolate was phenotypically and serologically indistinguishable from serotype O1 Y. ruckeri isolates, which have been the cause of the disease enteric redmouth (ERM) in Europe, the UK and the US for more than 30 years. However, the isolate was relatively avirulent, when tested by bath immersion challenge, in rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon, compared to a positive control ERM disease-causing rainbow trout isolate. Detailed molecular subtyping of the isolate using Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) also showed the isolate had a different pulsotype to the isolates known to typically circulate in Europe and the mainland UK. Overall, the results support the suggestion that the O1 serogroup contains a heterogeneous assembly of types with respect to pathogenicity and host

Differential characterization of emerging skin diseases of rainbow trout

Farmed and wild salmonids are affected by a variety of skin conditions, some of which have significant economic and welfare implications. In many cases, the causes are not well understood, and one example is cold water strawberry disease of rainbow trout, also called red mark syndrome, which has been recorded in the UK since 2003. To date, there are no internationally agreed methods for describing these conditions, which has caused confusion for farmers and health professionals, who are often unclear as to whether they are dealing with a new or a previously described condition. This has resulted, inevitably, in delays to both accurate diagnosis and effective treatment regimes. Here, we provide a standardized methodology for the description of skin conditions of rainbow trout of uncertain aetiology. We demonstrate how the approach can be used to develop case definitions, using coldwater strawberry disease as an example