United Kingdom News NEWS...
Smartphones to aid pond- side disease diagnostics
CUTTING edge farmer-led disease diagnostics technology could help combat disease outbreaks in fish and shellfish production, saving up to $6bn lost annually across the global aquaculture industry. The UK’s Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) is working with governments and industry in the UK and Asia to develop DNA-based diagnostic technology linked to data reporting by smartphone. This can be used by local famers to rapidly
detect potentially devastating diseases, such as white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). Cefas is leading field trials in Thailand, where diseases such as WSSV and other emergent prob- lems like early mortality syndrome have led to a halving of annual yield and profit (amounting to $2bn) in the shrimp industry.
Above:xDecentralised diagnostics
It is hoped that this revolutionary approach will ensure that early detection enables faster management of infection and disease and more effective control of outbreaks. Grant Stentiford of Cefas, said: ‘Decentralised diagnostics combined with technology driven field reporting has the ability to bridge the significant knowledge gap between farmers, scientists, aquatic health professionals, and policy makers at national, regional and global levels.’ The results of the field trials in Thailand during
2015 and 2016 will enable Cefas and partners to further develop this new technology, which is hoped to be available to industry from 2017.
Seal cull farmers to be named
FISH farmers who cull seals to protect their stocks will be named after the animal rights lobby won a landmark ruling against the aqua- culture industry last month.
Common and grey seals are protected under Scottish and EU law but fish farms and salmon fishermen can apply for a licence to cull them. More than 200 seals were legally shot by marksmen in Scotland last year to protect stocks, according to official figures, and 1,400 seals have been killed since the Scottish licence scheme was introduced in 2011. The Scottish government has refused to name the fish farms where animals have been culled, saying it could jeopardise the safety of farmers. But now rulings from the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) will force publication of cull details, reported the Independent. Scott Landsburgh, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation, said: ‘The number of seals shot by salmon farmers has declined dramatically over recent years.’
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www.fishfarmer-magazine.com
Marine Harvest order two new AKVA barges
MARINE Harvest Scotland and AKVA Group Scotland have signed a deal for two new barges. The AKVA Centre 450 tonne Panorama and AKVA Master 320 tonne Comfort are both due to be delivered this year, in October and November, probably to the Western Isles. AKVA steel barges are
designed to withstand the rough Scotti sh conditi ons, including in some cases wave
heights of up to 6m. The barges can
carry 450 and 320 tonnes of feed with eight and six line feed systems respecti vely to ensure feeding and fi sh performance is fully opti mised. The latest feed-
ing and integrated feedback monitoring technology can now be monitored and controlled remotely from a shore base us- ing the AKVA Connect soft ware platf orm.
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