Research
AN OVERVIEW OF YARISH’S MARINE
BIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH LAB’S PROGRAM:
THE REDISCOVERY OF FISH/SEAWEED INTEGRATED SYSTEMS IN
NORTH AMERICA |
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| C. Yarish |
| University of Connecticut, Department
of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology |
| 1 University Place, Stamford, Connecticut,
06901-2315, USA |
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| According to the FAO figures for the year
2000, total world capture marine fisheries annual production
has been nearly level at about 85 million metric tons
since 1986. In the U.S., capture marine fisheries have
declined by 10% from 7.4 million tones to 6.7 million
tons between 1986 and 1998. During the same period, global
marine finfish and shellfish aquaculture production has
increased by nearly 10% per year to approximately 13.1
million tons in 1999, making aquaculture the fastest growing
global food production sector. In the past decade, the
increase in global demand for seafood has been met by
increased aquaculture. As this fed aquaculture (e.g. finfish,
shrimp) aquaculture production increases, there is a significant
environmental concern associated with its discharge of
high nutrient loads in effluent wastewaters. This is a
problem in coastal pen-based aquaculture, in constructed
pond aquaculture and in tank-based aquaculture. Wastes
from these operations result from uneaten food and metabolic
waste products in the form of dissolved inorganic compounds
and suspended solids. The reduction of nutrient leaching
from fish food, improved feed formulations, and trapping
of uneaten food and fecal matter can reduce nutrient release,
however, dissolved excreted wastes are more difficult
to remove from effluents. For a balanced ecosystem approach
and to avoid pronounced shifts in coastal processes, fed
aquaculture needs to be integrated with organic and inorganic
extractive aquaculture (e.g. shellfish and seaweed). |
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| The goal of my research program is to couple
the culture of economically and ecologically important
marine algae with that of other types of fed aquaculture,
especially finfish. Our lab is now presently working on
the domestication of the red alga Porphyra (=nori), which
in itself is the most valuable maricultured seaweed in
the world, with that of finfish aquaculture. We have one
of the largest “seed-banks” of Porphyra in
the world containing isolates from North and South America,
Europe and Asia. These isolates offer us a unique opportunity
to do basic ecophysiological and developmental research,
well as enabling us unique opportunities for bio-prospecting
and genetically modifying them (with Prof. Thomas Chen).
The success of seaweed aquaculture in North America and
in particular in the Northeast will depend, in part, upon
several key factors, including: (1) successful transfer
and modification of Asian cultivation technologies (including
mass culture of "seedstock"); (2) development
of local indigenous species of marketable quality that
will be fast growing; and (3) be able to grow high value
seaweeds in potentially eutrophic coastal waters. Our
lab involved is involved in a cultivar improvement programs
for local commercially important species, just as has
been done in Asia. As has been demonstrated repeatedly
with agricultural crops and other types of cultivation,
genetic improvement of local cultured species is generally
crucial for maximizing yield and developing cost-effective
cultivation programs. |
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| I also have on-going projects with other
New England Universities (State University of New York,
University of New Hampshire, USA), as well as other foreign
Universities (University of New Brunswick, Canada, Ocean
University of Qingdao, PR China, Shanghai Fisheries University,
Shanghai, PR China, Pusan University, South Korea, Inje
University, South Korea and University of New Delhi, India),
with Porphyra integrated with salmon (Salmo salar) culture
at sea, and with summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus)
culture on land (with Great Bay Aquaculture, LLD, Portsmouth,
NH). Developing land based mass cultivation of marine
algae will enable us to deal with questions of biosecurity
in dealing with genetically modified organisms at UConn.
The Porphyra culture and physiological techniques that
we have developed at UConn are unique and enables our
University to be a Center of phycological research in
North America. |
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