All about Fish Vetting – Dr Richmond Loh
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Yours sincerely,
Dr Richmond Loh
DipProjMgt, BSc, BVMS, MPhil (Pathology) Murdoch, MANZCVS (Aquatics& Pathobiology).
The Fish Vet, Perth, Western Australia.
Veterinary Medicine for fish.
W: http://www.thefishvet.com.au
E: thefishvet
P: +61 (0)421 822 383
I’m a strong advocate of finding efficiencies in production, reducing the environmental impact through bioremediation and making businesses more profitable without excessive additional effort. Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture has been studied for quite some time now and it is up to the industry to adopt these practices. No matter what you’re culturing, there must be some other crop you can grow at the same time. Not only will this move increase profits, but also help reduce the potential environmental impact.
| Aquaculture | |||||||||||||||||
| Volume 371, Number 1 (December 2012) | |||||||||||||||||
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The absorption efficiency of the suspension-feeding sea cucumber, Cucumaria frondosa, and its potential as an extractive integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) species | ||||||||||||||||
| Authors: | E.J. Nelson, B.A. MacDonald, S.M.C. Robinson | ||||||||||||||||
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| Source: | Aquaculture, Volume 371, Number 1 (December 2012) | ||||||||||||||||
| Page Numbers: | 19 – 25 | ||||||||||||||||
| Available Full Text: |
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| Abstract: | Finfish aquaculture commonly releases waste material in the form of excess feed and faeces, which can impact the surrounding environment, often through increased oxygen demand in the benthos as a result of a buildup of organic matter. Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) in the Bay of Fundy co-cultures extractive species such as mussels (Mytilus edulis) and kelps (Saccharina latissima) alongside of the fed finfish to partially mitigate the impacts associated with excess inorganic and organic nutrients. The orange-footed sea cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa) is being examined as a potential extractive species to remove additional particulate organic waste in some of the larger particle size categories. Sea cucumbers were exposed to natural (IMTA sites and natural seston) particles and enhanced laboratory diets where the organic content (OC) of the food and faeces were determined to estimate absorption efficiency (AE). AE ranged between 68 and 85% for all the experimental trials but averaged 70±3% when evaluating their response to only the natural diets. Sea cucumbers were capable of consuming aquaculture waste material when exposed to it in the laboratory and when deployed at an IMTA site, feeding directly upon the particulates released. There was a strong positive relationship (R2=0.82) between food and faeces OC, making it possible to predict the faecal OC from the food supply OC. AE was not as readily predictable from the food supply OC although there was a significant positive relationship between food OC and AE. Sea cucumbers are efficient in absorbing organic material (70±3%) within the range (30 and <50% OC) they are typically exposed to in their natural environment. When challenged with particulate material of higher organic content (60% OC), such as cultured microalgae or salmon food and faeces they exhibit equal or enhanced (80%) AE’s. Our results show that C. frondosahas a great deal of potential to become an effective organic extractive IMTA species and aid in the reduction of organic loading occurring at aquaculture sites. | ||||||||||||||||
| Citation: | E.J. Nelson, B.A. MacDonald, S.M.C. Robinson . The absorption efficiency of the suspension-feeding sea cucumber, Cucumaria frondosa, and its potential as an extractive integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) species. Aquaculture, Volume 371, Number 1 (December 2012), pp. 19-25, <http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4850A7F99101671239EE> | ||||||||||||||||
| URL: | http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4850A7F99101671239EE | ||||||||||||||||
——— Forwarded message ———-
From: Dr. David Scarfe <DScarfe@avma.org>
Date: Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 10:35 PM
Subject: AquaVetMed e-News: Global Animal Health Conference: Developing Drugs to Support Food Security and Sustainability
To:
July 17, 2013
Global Animal Health Conference: Developing Global Animal Health Products to Support Food Security and Sustainability
October 17-18 2013 | Sheraton Crystal City, 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway Arlington, VA, USA
Veterinary medicinal products play a key role in promoting animal health. Co-sponsored by the Food & Drug Administration, Center for Veterinary Medicine and International Federation for Animal Health this 3rd Conference on Global Animal Health provides a platform to discuss methods of maximizing the development and use of animal health products to support food security and sustainability. Presentations from academia, industry, nonprofit and international organizations as well as Government Officials will reflect the global challenges of animal health product development and share opportunities for global regulatory convergence to ensure access safe and effective medicines.
Featured Topics
Who Should Attend
This conference is designed for key regulators and non-regulators who have influence on decision making in other regions, as well as individuals working in the pharmaceutical industry, academia, regulatory and governmental agencies worldwide and those interested in gaining a better understanding of animal health products for the continuation of global health security and sustainability.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this conference, participants should be able to:
For more information go to http://tinyurl.com/knbwz2m.
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Check this out: http://www.buzzpatrol.com/daaaw-owner-makes-lifejacket-for-pet-fish-called-einstein-who-cant-swim/
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Yours sincerely,
Dr Richmond Loh
DipProjMgt, BSc, BVMS, MPhil (Pathology) Murdoch, MANZCVS (Aquatics& Pathobiology).
The Fish Vet, Perth, Western Australia.
Veterinary Medicine for fish.
W: http://www.thefishvet.com.au
E: thefishvet
P: +61 (0)421 822 383
I was asked this question recently. There are many other tools out there including virology, bacteriology, molecular diagnostics (DNA testing), serology (looking for antibodies or pathogen antigen), epidemiology and so on and so forth. And when I was asked this question, I naturally answered, “Pathology is the most useful and versatile tool for disease investigations”. The discipline of pathology covers necropsy/autopsy and microscopy (histopathology). Why did I say this?
For my Masters project, I utilised the discipline of pathology to provide a case definition for Devil Facial Tumour Disease that was affecting Tasmanian devils. There was a lot of talk about it being caused by toxins, by a virus and a combination of other things. From the work my team and I did, we found no such thing. To see what we found, see the following articles:
The Pathology of Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) in Tasmanian Devils (Sarcophilus harrisii).
In my thesis, I entered a quote from John Hughlings Jackson which states, “The study of the causes of things must be preceded by the study of things caused”. And from the recent movie World War Z, “Mother nature leaves clues.” Why do these quotes and pathology go hand in hand? It is because when you are investigating a disease outbreak, you won’t necessarily know what you’re dealing with. And so, it’s impossible to study what has caused the disease without first trying to identify what has caused it. But to try to identify what’s caused it, you need to find the clues.
Quite often, we can see the pathogen (the ‘bug’) at necropsy or on microscopy and we have our diagnosis. But what happens if the pathogen is too small or invisible? What then? When the host animal is under attack by a bug, the host animal will leave us with clues. They do this by reacting to the bug in a certain pattern. The clues we get from looking at the reaction of the host to the bug can be very revealing. For example, if we’re dealing with a bacterial disease, special white blood cells called neutrophils will be recruited to fight off the bug; in the case of fungi, you may get macrophages; parasites, eosinophils; viruses, lymphocytes and so on. We are able to identify diseases that are not only infectious, but also, those associated with nutrition, water quality, toxins, trauma and cancers. We may also be able provide an estimate on how long they’ve had the disease. It is only by examining the host through the discipline of pathology that we can gauge what’s happening. It draws heavily on being observative, this is the discipline of pathology. And when dealing with different animal species, you need to be able to compare what’s known in one species, with another. This is the discipline of veterinary pathology.
The great thing about pathology is that it can draw upon the other disciplines where necessary. So once you have found the clues, you can then utilise other disciplines from molecular diagnostics, bacteriology or virology. If you were to use any other tools first, you would be wasting valuable time and resources. There is no point chasing viruses using molecular (PCR) techniques when what you’re dealing with is a bacterial, parasitic or water quality issue. You need to take a broader approach to things.
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Yours sincerely,
Dr Richmond Loh
DipProjMgt, BSc, BVMS, MPhil (Pathology) Murdoch, MANZCVS (Aquatics& Pathobiology).
The Fish Vet, Perth, Western Australia.
Veterinary Medicine for fish.
W: http://www.thefishvet.com.au
E: thefishvet
P: +61 (0)421 822 383
So, you have been given a strange aquatic creature and you need to draw some blood. Where do you get it from?
Check out the blood collection sites from my FB album at this link.
Why do it?
You can study it on haematology, run a serum biochemistry panel or submit it for bacterial culture. These are fantastic, non-lethal ways of checking on the health of the animal.
"Manatees are dying so quickly that some still have food in their mouths, while the dolphins and pelicans appear to be starving to death."
"The deaths don’t follow an obvious pattern."
"Investigators don’t know if the die-offs are the work of the same killer, or if by some coincidence, nature has produced three unrelated carcass piles at once."
Read more here – http://aquatichealth.net/node/82879
Follow me on: Facebook "Fin Page" – YouTube – Blog – Linkedin – Twitter
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Yours sincerely,
Dr Richmond Loh DipProjMgt, BSc, BVMS, MPhil (Pathology) Murdoch, MANZCVS (Aquatics & Pathobiology).
Veterinarian | Adjunct Lecturer Murdoch University | President-elect WAVMA |
Secretary Aquatic Animal Health Chapter – ANZCVS.
The Fish Vet, Perth, Western Australia, AUSTRALIA. Mobile Veterinary Medical & Diagnostic Services for fish and other aquatic creatures.
http://www.thefishvet.com.au
Ph: +61 (0)421 822 383
Looking for more books? Check out this site.
As some people are still awaiting funds to come through, registration deadline has been extended to 8 Aug.
I hope to see you here.
This Fish Diseases Workshop will be held before the World Parasitology Conference in Perth at our Murdoch University veterinary school and will be presented by Drs Supranee Chinabut and Susan Gibson-Kueh. It will be a prequel or satellite workshop to an International Parasitology Workshop that follows right after.
Q: How do you tell the difference between a frog and a toad?
A: A frog will turn into a prince when kissed!