Small-Scale Artisanal Fisheries, Inland Aquaculture on Saline–Alkali Land, and Sea Ranch Fisheries

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Aquatic Animals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 1193

Editors

College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Interests: fish functional diversity; environmental DNA; invasive fish species; multiple human impacts; aquatic biodiversity and conservation
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Guest Editor
Resources Management Department, Fisheries Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tokyo, Japan
Interests: fisheries science; fisheries resource management; marine policy and spatial planning; bio-logging and fish behavior; coastal ecosystem conservation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Coastal and inland small-scale artisanal fisheries, saline–alkali land fisheries, and sea ranching are three key components of sustainable and green fisheries and aquacultural systems in East Asia. Small-scale artisanal fisheries support the livelihoods of numerous coastal communities, maintain traditional fishing culture, and contribute significantly to local food security. Saline–alkali land fisheries effectively utilize marginal land and inland resources, alleviate pressure on traditional freshwater and coastal aquacultural areas, and expand the overall space for aquaculture. Sea ranching helps restore depleted coastal fishery resources and enhance marine ecological stability. Collectively, these three models are important to the long-term sustainable development of the fishery industry in East Asia.

This Special Issue aims to advance the scientific understanding of sustainable fishery management and provide practical solutions for aquatic animal conservation in these three models in inland and coastal environmental regions, including China and Japan. It emphasizes three interrelated research directions: (1) the propagation, conservation, and genetic protection of endemic aquatic animal species; (2) the ecological restoration and adaptive management of inland, coastal and sea ranch water areas, especially in high-salinity and low-temperature environments; and (3) the investigation, monitoring, and assessment of fishery resources using modern survey techniques and data-driven analytical approaches.

Moreover, rapid climate change, habitat degradation, and increasing anthropogenic pressures are posing serious threats to endemic aquatic biodiversity and the sustainability of inland and coastal fisheries, particularly in arid and alpine ecosystems. To address these challenges, this Special Issue provides an interdisciplinary platform for innovative research integrating ecology, conservation biology, aquaculture technology, remote sensing, environmental DNA (eDNA), and fishery resource assessment models.

We welcome original research articles, reviews, and case studies that contribute theoretical advances, methodological innovations, and policy-relevant insights, with the goal of supporting resilient fisheries and ecological restoration under extreme environmental conditions.

Dr. Min Xu
Dr. Lei Zhou
Dr. Hideaki Tanoue
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • small-scale artisanal fisheries
  • saline–alkali land aquaculture
  • sea ranching
  • sustainable fishery management

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3253 KB  
Article
Transcriptomic Responses of the Endangered Endemic Fish Aspiorhynchus laticeps to Salinity–Alkalinity and Water Flow Stress
by Huanhuan Wang, Liting Yang, Changcai Liu, Wenxia Cai, Yong Song, Xuyuan Lin, Peng Chen, Zhen Sun, Sadia Bibi, Xiao Liang and Shengao Chen
Animals 2026, 16(15), 2281; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16152281 - 23 Jul 2026
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Abstract
To understand the adaptive evolution of endangered plateau freshwater fishes to environmental stress and to better explore the underlying mechanisms in Aspiorhynchus laticeps—a critically endangered fish endemic to the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, China—a combination of ecological experiments and transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) technology [...] Read more.
To understand the adaptive evolution of endangered plateau freshwater fishes to environmental stress and to better explore the underlying mechanisms in Aspiorhynchus laticeps—a critically endangered fish endemic to the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, China—a combination of ecological experiments and transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) technology was used to study the differences in gene expression patterns among individuals under different salinities and flow conditions. This experiment included four treatment groups (CON, H-SA-S, L-SA, L-SA-S). A. laticeps specimens with an average weight of 2.92 ± 0.62 g and a body length of 58.22 ± 5.10 mm were selected, with three biological replicates for a 96 h combined stress treatment. Moreover, the relationships between these differences and the aquatic environment were analyzed. A total of 1847 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 935 upregulated genes and 912 downregulated genes, were identified under different aquatic environment stress modes. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses revealed that TNF signal transduction, the NF-κB pathway, and metabolic regulation were significantly enriched among the DEGs (p < 0.05). High salinity–alkali stress significantly activates the TNF/NF-κB pathway, regulates MST1, LOC107702867, LOC113110979 and other genes to enhance the body’s resistance; water flow changes mainly regulate energy metabolism through genes such as NEHOM01_1600 and gptl. These findings provide an important scientific basis for the ecological adaptability, protection, and proliferation of endemic and endangered fish in China, as well as for germplasm innovation to address ecological deterioration in plateau fishes in alpine and arid areas. This study provides a molecular-level theoretical foundation for artificial habitat regulation and the conservation of endangered Aspiorhynchus laticeps populations in the Tarim River. Full article
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16 pages, 2185 KB  
Article
Gonad Development and Larvae Distribution of the Manila Clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) in the Laizhou Bay Nature Reserve
by Xiang Li, Bin Ma, Jianing Wang, Yu Li, Zengguang Feng, Zengqiang Yin, Lei Chen and Zhongming Huo
Animals 2026, 16(10), 1507; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16101507 - 14 May 2026
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Abstract
Filter-feeding bivalves provide important ecosystem services, including the improvement of water clarity, nutrient recycling, and the support of coastal food webs [...] Full article
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