The large use of fish meal/fish oil in carnivorous fish feeds is the main concern regarding environmental sustainability of aquaculture. Here, we evaluated the effects of an innovative diet, designed to be (1) environmentally sustainable by lowering the marine protein content while being (2) cost effective by using sustainable alternative raw materials with acceptable cost and produced on an industrial scale, on growth performance, gut microbiota composition, health and welfare of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), a key species of the Mediterranean marine aquaculture, reared in sea cages. Results show that the specific growth rate of fish fed the low marine protein diet was significantly lower than those fed conventional diet (0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFish is a fundamental component of the human diet, and in the near future the proportion of aquatic foods originating from aquaculture production is expected to increase to over 56%. The sustainable growth of the aquaculture sector involves the use of new sustainable raw materials as substitutes for traditional fishmeal and fish oil ingredients, but it is crucial that the substitution maintains the nutritional value of the fish meat. In addition, the preservation of the nutritional value should be a mandatory requirement of new technologies that extend the shelf life of fish.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Aquaponics is an innovative farming system that combines hydroponics and aquaculture, resulting in the production of both crops and fish. Decoupled aquaponics is a new approach introduced in aquaponics research for the elimination of certain system bottlenecks, specifically targeting the optimization of crops and fish production conditions. The aquaponics-related literature predominantly examines the system's effects on crop productivity, largely overlooking the plant functional responses which underlie growth and yield performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetamorphosis entails hormonally regulated morphological and physiological changes requiring high energy levels. Probiotics as feed supplements generate ameliorative effects on host nutrient digestion and absorption. Thereby, the aim of the present research was to investigate the impact of the probiotic as a water additive on cellular signaling pathways in the metamorphosis of greater amberjack ().
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