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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2024) | Viewed by 12324

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Harry W. Palm

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Guest Editor

Aquaculture and Sea-Ranching, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
Interests: aquaponics; polyponics; integrated aquaculture systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Adrian A. Bischoff

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Guest Editor

Aquaculture and Sea-Ranching, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
Interests: recirculating aquaculture systems; polychaetes in aquaculture; nutrient budgets; larviculture of fish

Dr. Ulrich Knaus

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Guest Editor

Aquaculture and Sea-Ranching, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
Interests: aquaponics; aquaculture; fish biology; nutrition; nutritional biochemistry; polyponics; circular economy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The production of most aquatic organisms requires less feed and water compared with farmed live stock. This has been recognized, especially in Asia, with high aquaculture growth rates and production volumes. However, limitations in fish meal and fish oil availability, availability of coastal environments for brackish water aquaculture systems, and increasing steakholder conflicts require intensification of the existence and development of more sustainable aquaculture systems. Many different developments have been undertaken or are under way to achieve this goal, with many positive developments especially in recent years. However, there is a gap of knowledge transfer between the research community and practitioners in aquaculture. As long as the most promising research results remain inside the laboratories, many sustainable aquaculture developments have still a long way to go. This Special Issue, entitled Sustainable Aquaculture Systems, has a special focus on the development and application of more sustainable aquaculture practices. It also focusses on the improved larviculture techniques following a significant increase in survival rates, more efficient feed use, and the development of applications for already commercialized aquaculture species to improve current aquaculture practices, until the presentation of new developments, such as aquaponics or the involvement in the circular economy, as well as many new development firms under sustainable aquaculture systems. Recirculating aquaculture still only represents a small share of the global aquaculture production, but it can be expected that the use of recirculating systems will increase significantly in the future. This Special Issue is intended to complement already-existing aquaculture journals, magazines, and Special Issues while focusing on most recent research results that can be transferred and should be implemented into practice within the near future.

Prof. Dr. Harry W. Palm
Dr. Adrian A. Bischoff
Dr. Ulrich Knaus
Guest Editors

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Keywords

recirculating aquaculture systems
feed
alternative feed resources
welfare
aquaponics
larviculture
vermifiltration
circular economy

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3938 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Automated Fish-Feeding System Based on CNN and GRU Neural Networks

by Surak Son and Yina Jeong

Sustainability 2024, 16(9), 3675; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16093675 - 27 Apr 2024

Viewed by 464

Abstract

AI plays a pivotal role in predicting plant growth in agricultural contexts and in creating optimized environments for cultivation. However, unlike agriculture, the application of AI in aquaculture is predominantly focused on diagnosing animal conditions and monitoring them for users. This paper introduces an Automated Fish-feeding System (AFS) based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Gated Recurrent Units (GRUs), aiming to establish an automated system akin to smart farming in the aquaculture sector. The AFS operates by precisely calculating feed rations through two main modules. The Fish Growth Measurement Module (FGMM) utilizes fish data to assess the current growth status of the fish and transmits this information to the Feed Ration Prediction Module (FRPM). The FRPM integrates sensor data from the fish farm, fish growth data, and current feed ration status as time-series data, calculating the increase or decrease rate of ration based on the present fish conditions. This paper automates feed distribution within fish farms through these two modules and verifies the efficiency of automated feed distribution. Simulation results indicate that the FGMM neural network model effectively identifies fish body length with a minor deviation of less than 0.1%, while the FRPM neural network model demonstrates proficiency in predicting ration using a GRU cell with a structured layout of 64 × 48. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Aquaculture Systems)

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16 pages, 835 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Eco-Organic Feed on Growth Performance, Biometric Indices, and Nutrient Retention of Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata)

by Eslam Tefal, Ana Tomás-Vidal, Silvia Martínez-Llorens, Ignacio Jauralde, David Sánchez-Peñaranda and Miguel Jover-Cerdá

Sustainability 2023, 15(14), 10750; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151410750 - 8 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5142

Abstract

This study examined how eco-organic feed affects the growth performance, nutrient efficiency, feed utilisation, and body composition of gilthead seabream. Six different diets were tested, including a control diet (CONT) without organic ingredients and four diets with 100% organic ingredients: trout (TRO), seabass (SBS), poultry (POU), and mix (MIX), along with a control organic diet (ORG) containing organic ingredients and 30% fishmeal. The experiment lasted 70 days, and the fish were fed twice a day, starting with an initial weight of 60.5 g. The results showed that the highest growth rates were observed in fish fed the ORG and CONT diets containing fishmeal. Conversely, the POU diet resulted in the lowest growth rate, survival rate, and highest value for feed conversion ratio (FCR). Almost all essential amino acid efficiency values were high in fish fed the ORG and CONT diets. Still, significant differences were noted in the retention efficiency of fatty acids across all diets. The retention efficiency was higher in the CONT diet, followed by the ORG diet. However, the economic conversion rate was lower for CONT, SBS, TRO, and MIX. Overall, using organic diets of animal origin impacted the growth performance of gilthead seabream, but it is still a promising approach. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Aquaculture Systems)

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16 pages, 1277 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Utilization of Sludge from African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) Recirculating Aquaculture Systems for Vermifiltration

by Jan Klein, Andrea Schüch, Phillip Sandmann, Michael Nelles, Harry Wilhelm Palm and Adrian Bischoff

Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7429; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097429 - 30 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1814

Abstract

Vermifiltration is a low-energy and low-cost option to reduce the environmental impact of aquaculture. A comparative study was performed for two different stocking densities of the epigeic worm Dendrobaena veneta (Michaelsen, 1890, Annelida: Oligochaeta), which were fed with sediment sludge from African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822), recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS). The intensive (I) and extensive (E) systems were stocked with 15 and 10 g of worm/L filter substrate, respectively, and were compared with a control (C) for four weeks. The total weight gain was 9.4–13.5% for (I) and 13.8–19.5% for (E), with low mortality rates of 3.46–5.84% (I) and 3.57–5.19% (E). The temperature inside the vermifilters was slightly higher than that in the control, indicating a favorable milieu for microbial activity. The worms supported the pH buffering capacity in the systems, with the effluent reaching 7.10 ± 0.02 (I) and 7.26 ± 0.04 (E) at the end of the experiment while the pH in the (C) was significantly higher (7.51 ± 0.05). The removal rates were 68.02–98.84% (I), 71.85–98.67% (E), and 72.80–98.68% (C) for the total nitrogen bound (TNb); 82.77–96.64% (I), 81.65–94.84% (E), and 77.79–94.74% (C) for the total organic carbon (TOC); and 50.43–97.51% (I), 50.89–96.84% (E), and 48.23–96.34% (C) for the chemical oxygen demand (COD). By utilizing the sludge as feed, the worms and associated microbiota significantly altered the African catfish sediments, removing organic loads, upgrading the composition, and reducing the possible environmental impacts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Aquaculture Systems)

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18 pages, 374 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adult European Seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) Perform Well on Alternative Circular-Economy-Driven Feed Formulations

by Jessica Petereit, Christina Hoerterer, Adrian A. Bischoff-Lang, Luís E. C. Conceição, Gabriella Pereira, Johan Johansen, Roberto Pastres and Bela H. Buck

Sustainability 2022, 14(12), 7279; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127279 - 14 Jun 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2208

Abstract

There is an increasing need in the aquaculture industry for more sustainable and functional feed concepts for marine finfish. This study provides results for the effect of alternative feed formulations on health status, welfare parameters, sensory analysis, and growth performance in European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) over an 83-day feeding trial. Fish were fed twice a day with five experimental diets. A control diet (control) and four different alternative feed concepts rich in processed animal proteins (PAP), other alternative ingredients (NOPAP), and a positive (NOPAP⁺) and negative (PAP⁻) formulation were tested. All alternative formulations contained hydrolysates from aquaculture by-products and macroalgae. The results indicate that the alternative feed concepts are more sustainable alternatives compared with the commercial diet. Equally interesting, the alternative formulations did not affect the sensory analysis of the fillet quality or the animal welfare. These are increasingly important factors in aquaculture products and, accordingly, also in the formulation of new feeds. Feed concepts that are not only more sustainable in their production, have shorter transportation distances, recycle the resources (usage of by-products), and have no adverse effect on growth or welfare parameters are highly needed. Therefore, the experimental diets tested in this study are a win-win concept for future seabass aquaculture production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Aquaculture Systems)

17 pages, 1737 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

The Effect of Brachionus calyciflorus (Rotifera) on Larviculture and Fatty Acid Composition of Pikeperch (Sander lucioperca (L.)) Cultured under Pseudo-Green Water Conditions

by Adrian A. Bischoff, Melanie Kubitz, Claudia M. Wranik, Laura Ballesteros-Redondo, Patrick Fink and Harry W. Palm

Sustainability 2022, 14(11), 6607; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116607 - 27 May 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1968

Abstract

A new cultivation system with the chlorophyte Monoraphidium contortum combined with a self-sustaining culture of the freshwater rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus was applied for Sander lucioperca (L.) larviculture. Survival, morphometrics, as well as fatty acid composition of pikeperch larvae were analyzed after a ten-day feeding period. By using the pseudo-green water technique with improved aeration and water movement at the surface, survival rates reached up to 94%, with a total larval length of 8.1 ± 0.3 mm and a specific length growth rate of up to 4.1% day⁻¹ for S. lucioperca. The biochemical composition of B. calyciflorus and especially its contents in C18 PUFAs and suitable n-3/n-6 ratios met the nutritional requirements of pikeperch larvae. The high abundance of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) in the diet appeared to be less important in the first feeding due to a possible retention of essential fatty acids, which originate from the yolk sac reserves, at adequate levels. Exponential growth of microalgae and zooplankton under the applied conditions was most effective when stocking M. contortum five days and B. calyciflorus three days before adding the fish larvae. Appropriate timing and sufficient live feed density allowed a successful integration of B. calyciflorus into pikeperch larviculture. We hypothesize that feeding pikeperch larvae with a self-sustaining Brachionus-culture under pseudo-green water conditions with minor disruptions during larviculture will improve survival and growth. This system is a first step towards pikeperch larviculture inside recirculated aquaculture systems (RAS) under continuous feed supply with live feed within the same aquaculture unit. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Aquaculture Systems)

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