Marine cage culture and the environment: twenty-first century science informing a sustainable industry

Technological innovation has made it possible to grow marine finfish in the coastal and open ocean. Along with this opportunity comes environmental risk. As a federal agency charged with stewardship of the nation’s marine resources, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) requires tools to evaluate the benefits and risks that aquaculture poses in the marine environment, to implement policies and regulations which safeguard our marine and coastal ecosystems, and to inform production designs and operational procedures compatible with marine stewardship. There is an opportunity to apply the best available science and globally proven best management practices to regulate and guide a sustainable United States (U.S.) marine finfish farming aquaculture industry. There are strong economic incentives to develop this industry, and doing so in an environmentally responsible way is possible if stakeholders, the public and regulatory agencies have a clear understanding of the relative risks to the environment and the feasible solutions to minimize, manage or eliminate those risks. This report spans many of the environmental challenges that marine finfish aquaculture faces. We believe that it will serve as a useful tool to those interested in and responsible for the industry and safeguarding the health, productivity and resilience of our marine ecosystems. This report aims to provide a comprehensive review of some predominant environmental risks that marine fish cage culture aquaculture, as it is currently conducted, poses in the marine environment and designs and practices now in use to address these environmental risks in the U.S. and elsewhere. Today’s finfish aquaculture industry has learned, adapted and improved to lessen or eliminate impacts to the marine habitats in which it operates. What progress has been made? What has been learned? How have practices changed and what are the results in terms of water quality, benthic, and other environmental effects? To answer these questions we conducted a critical review of the large body of scientific work published since 2000 on the environmental impacts of marine finfish aquaculture around the world. Our report includes results, findings and recommendations from over 420 papers, primarily from peer-reviewed professional journals. This report provides a broad overview of the twenty-first century marine finfish aquaculture industry, with a targeted focus on potential impacts to water quality, sediment chemistry, benthic communities, marine life and sensitive habitats. Other environmental issues including fish health, genetic issues, and feed formulation were beyond the scope of this report and are being addressed in other initiatives and reports. Also absent is detailed information about complex computer simulations that are used to model discharge, assimilation and accumulation of nutrient waste from farms. These tools are instrumental for siting and managing farms, and a comparative analysis of these models is underway by NOAA.

在异倍性水平多胚苗水稻的特征特性研究

通过无融合生殖方式固定水稻杂种优势是水稻育种中极具诱惑力的研究内容之一。自从1979年以来，我国水稻无融合生殖充种研究主要集中在筛选和鉴定水稻多胚苗材料。根据前人的研究结果，具有无融合生殖特性的植物大多数为多倍体。本试验以多胚苗水稻APIV及其衍生系为研究材料，在二倍体[APIV_((2))]、同源三倍体[APIV_((3))]和同源四倍体[APIV_((4))]水平，对其多个世代中的特征特性，其中包括形态学特征，遗传学和胚胎学特性进行了研究，旨在探讨在多倍性水平筛选水稻无融合生殖种质的可能性，获得如下主要研究结果： 1.在二倍体APIV_((2))的多个世代中，只发现单胚苗、双胚苗和三胚苗植株，多胚苗频率比较低(4.67～5.14%)，多胚苗性状的表达在一定程度上受到环境因素的影响，并且，多胚苗植株的成活率比较低(11.70～17.39%)，大部分多胚苗植株在三叶期之前死亡，这很可能与其胚乳的营养供应有关。根据APIV_((2))的多胚苗性状在多个自交世代和杂交世代中的表达特点，多胚苗性状不是显性性状，也不是隐性性状，而是一种比较特殊的数量性状。 2.胚胎学的研究结果表明，在APIV_((2))的2857个子房的胚囊中没有观察到与不定胚生殖有关的特异生殖现象;APIV_((2))在发生受精之前的胚囊构型包括正常蓼型胚囊（76.5%）、退化型胚囊（16.0%）和变异型胚囊（7.5%），在变异型胚囊中包括双卵卵器胚囊（86.7%）和三卵卵器胚囊（13.3%）;APIV_((2))的双受精与前人在正常二倍体水稻中所观察到的结果大致相符;在不同季节的颖花和同一季节同一稻穗的不同颖花内多卵和多胚苗频率存在着明显差异。 3.在同源四倍体水稻的诱导中对种芽进行预处理，促使其胚芽鞘明显伸长后再进行诱导处理是诱导成功的关键技术。在同源四倍体APIV_((4))的同一稻穗中强势颖花的多卵频率要明显地高于弱势颖花的多卵频率。在APIV_((4))去雄后的颖花中意外地观察到了单胚和双胚现象。同源四倍体水稻APIV_((4))的有性生殖能力明显变弱，在花药内正常花粉粒少而败育花粉粒多;在受精前正常胚囊数少而退化胚囊数比较多（36.0%）;花粉管进入胚囊的时间比较晚;双受精频率低而单受精频率高。 4.异倍性水稻间具有一定的可交配性，但其结实率比较低（0.20～-1.64%），通过常规杂交方法所获得的同源三倍体成活植株的频率更低（0.07%）。在湖南湘潭的秋季条件下同源三倍体水稻植株雄性完全败育，但有部分稻穗能结实（0.59%～7.71%)，由此可获得饱满种子和不饱满种子。 5.通过子房培养可以获得异倍性水稻间杂种植株。在APIV_((4))/APIV_((2))杂交组合的子房培养中出现了一株双胚苗;同源三倍体成活植株的获得率仍然比较低（0.78%），但比通过常规杂交法首先获得种子，进而获得同源三倍体成活植株的效率要倍出11.14倍。根据试验结果，提出了6个问题进行讨论。认为在杂交后代中有可能筛选到多胚苗发生频率更高的单株;多胚苗性状是比较复杂的数量性状;同源四倍体水稻的有性生殖能力明显变弱;通过合理配组和复重授粉可以提高异倍性水稻间的杂并结实率;通过子房培养可以明显提高获得同源三倍体成活植株的效率;在多倍体水稻中筛选无融合生殖种质在比二倍体水稻中筛选可能更容易成功。

A note on the culture of Chanos chanos (Forskal) at Brackishwater Fish Farm, Kaninada

The culture of Chanos chanos to marketable size within a three months period, is described. Procedures involved include phased manuring coupled with proper water management to keep up enhanced primary productivity. Results show that, under monoculture, with low-input technology it is possible to produce 3,000 kg fish per hectare per year.