In November 2013, the Guiuan Marine Fisheries Development Center (GMFDC), a 1.25-hectare, multispecies hatchery in the island province of Samar in the Philippines, was riding high.

Hunter Pearls Fiji has opened a hatchery and research lab in Savusavu, Fiji. The hatchery is able to house 4.5 million black-lip oyster larvae (Pinctada margaritifera) and will help the company recover after the harrowing impacts of increasingly severe tropical storms in recent years. Founder Justin Hunter, however, is keeping mum on much of the details, and with good reason.

A 240,000-fish RAS hatchery is nearing completion at the University of Stirling with the promise of producing research-robust stock for use in future research projects across the United Kingdom.

In the town of Calauan in Laguna, located some 80 kilometers from Manila, a husband-and-wife team received a suggestion to convert their rice farm into a tilapia hatchery.

Since it was built in 2012, the Aquaculture Technology Centre (ATC) Patagonia held the genetic improvement program of Aquachile – which used to be the largest salmon producing company in Chile. Last year, before Agrosuper purchased Aquachile, Danish feed company Biomar acquired 30 percent of this facility and helped turn it into one of the largest experimental stations of its kind.

Cedar Crest Trout Hatcheries lies in Hanover, Ontario, Canada, at the base of the Bruce Peninsula, in the heart of Ontario’s rainbow trout (Oncorhychus mykiss) fingerling production area. This location is perfectly placed to ship fish to Cedar Crest’s primary clients on Lake Huron. In truth, Cedar Crest is four closely placed hatcheries, making Cedar Crest the largest producer of fingerlings in the province. Between the four locations, Cedar Crest produces more than seven million fingerlings each year.

Unglamorous as it may be, mortality collection, classification and analysis are an essential job at any hatchery. Often, mort picking is seen as the bottom end of the job spectrum.

The shellfish industry in British Columbia has at least two very happy people this fall. Carl Butterworth is the manager of the Vancouver Island University’s (VIU’s) Deep Bay Marine Field Station and Dr. Tim Green is the new Canada research chair in Shellfish Health and Genomics at the Deep Bay station.  

When Eric Pederson of Ideal Fish needed European sea bass fry for his indoor RAS installation in Connecticut, U.S., he went to Europe to get them.

The biological clock never ceases ticking, and all living things die. But that clock can be frozen, and decay curtailed indefinitely. The implications to fish conservation are large.

Established on the edge of Lake Wendouree in 1873, the Ballarat Fish Hatchery is the oldest in mainland Australia. Managed by the Ballarat Fish Acclimatisation Society, it was established “to introduce trout, (redfin) perch and other English fish into Ballarat district waters.”

In an effort to find ways to prevent hatchery fish from straying, Oregon State University researcher Maryam Kamran has been working with the Oregon Hatchery Research Center to study salmon responses to various scent stimuli. In recent years, Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the area are not homing as well as they once were, Kamran says.

Utilizing optimized culture conditions has cut the average larval development period of the common spider crab (Maja brachydactyla) by more than 50 percent.

The industry is under renewed pressure to embrace more sustainable practices to safeguard an increasingly fragile environment. Measures to prevent fouling of nets without the use of toxic chemicals are constantly being developed.

A study in Brazil on the “occurrence of compensatory growth, in view of enabling the storage of juveniles at densities in the intermediate culture phase” showed that juvenile scallops (Nodipecten nodosus) have ideal growth rates in a low-density environment.

Rigid artificial turf, smooth plastic or soft bottle brush?

According to a peer review conducted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, farmed salmon that carry and transfer the deadly Piscine Orthoreovirus (PRV) pose a low risk to wild Fraser River sockeye salmon in British Columbia.

The Canadian Federal Court has ruled that juvenile farmed salmon in B.C., must be tested for piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) before being introduced to open net pens. 

Inspection and classification of mortalities found in a system is an essential tool for hatchery management. It is not enough just to collect mortalities in a timely manner and manage based on the number of total dead fish.

OSLO, Norway - Three months after Atlantic salmon were stocked in a new closed containment system, testing shows that the fish are adapting well, Cermaq reports.

From cloud computing to artificial intelligence, new technologies of the 21st century are not only changing the way people communicate, engage and conduct transactions, it is also dramatically transforming industries and making an impact on their growth and development.

Christiansfeld, Denmark-based fish feed producer Aller Aqua has joined a partnership with insect protein producing company Enorm BioFactory to create Denmark’s first industrial insect production.

NEW ORLEANS – Aquaponics was a big feature at Aquaculture 2019 held in this city March 7-11, with presenters highlighting the system's potential for addressing the world's food security challenges.

MIAMI – Amidst the heavy construction activities in and around Atlantic Sapphire’s Bluehouse project in Miami, Florida, U.S.A., somewhere in the vicinity, at least 800,000 Atlantic salmon eggs are safely tucked away inside its biosecure hatchery, getting ready to make their debut as the first batch of commercial grade fish to be produced at the Miami Bluehouse.

The University of Southern Maine (USM), in Maine, U.S.A., and Maine-based aquaculture firm Whole Oceans have joined forces to offer a course on aquaponics and recirculating aquaculture systems, the university's public affairs office said.

Join peers from worldwide to find out the latest on shrimp production in RAS at this year’s RAStech Conference being held in Washington, DC May 13–14.

Kingfish Zeeland, based in The Netherlands, is ready to take its high-value RAS-grown Dutch Yellowtail (Seriola lalandi) to the North American market with plans to establish a production facility in the United States this year.

Aller Aqua has developed and introduced a new feed technology called PowerRAS.

Peracetic acid (PAA) has recently been documented as an effective water disinfectant for aquaculture that also appears to be compatible with biofiltration when applied at low doses. As such, the outlook for PAA use in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) is positive, particularly when considering the environmentally friendly attributes of this compound.

Singapore-based Pure Salmon is continuing its push to establish a worldwide network of sustainable, land-based salmon farms, with the announcement of a new facility to be built in Tazewell County, Virginia, in the United States, as well as two new potential locations in Europe.

What seemed as Utopia a few decades ago is now reality: Atlantic salmon is being grown out in land-based facilities and promoted as sustainable alternative to sea cages.

Atlantic Sapphire moved the first two commercial batches of salmon fingerlings from its hatchery to the feeding unit at its new Miami, Fla., facility on Monday.

Dallas, Texas-based agro-tech company NaturalShrimp, Inc., and Colorado Springs, Colo., and Largo, Fla.-based wastewater treatment company F&T Water Solutions, LLC have received a U.S. patent for a system to grow shrimp in enclosed salt water systems.

Simultaneous five-year research work in Europe has cleared most of the stumbling blocks related to wreckfish (Polyprion americanus) farming.

A shrimp breeding farm of the Viet-Uc Seafood Corporation in Bac Lieu, Vietnam, has become the first in the country to fulfill criterion set by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.

When it comes to oyster seed production, the triploid-tetraploid technology is the option that delivers. But verification on different stages and facets are necessary to make it work.

A university and government agency in Vietnam worked together to develop the country’s first protocol for sperm cryopreservation of tiger grouper fuscoguttatus with the goal of providing an all-year-round supply for seed production.

It is one of the most frequent arguments made in the introduction of aquaculture publications: the success of the industry will be key to the effort of meeting the demand for high-quality protein for a growing human population.

Animal biotech and genetics company Enzootic and NRGene, provider of genomic big data analysis, have completed the sequencing and assembly of the world's first high-quality genome of freshwater shrimp M. rosenbergii.

Efforts to culture ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta) have reached a major milestone with the first spawning of the farmed fish in captivity.

A study at the Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada investigated methods used to trigger spawning and artificially induce maturation in sea cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa).

Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada is a long way from the Balkans, but a European expert is looking to replicate the success he had there by raising freshwater crayfish in British Columbia.

Fish-breeding experts in Taiwan have broken new ground with the first successful breeding in captivity of one of Asia’s premium fish: the large-mouth grouper, known in the Philippines as lapu-lapu, but most commonly referred to in China as garupa.

The Tru Shrimp Company has signed an agreement with the Oceanic Institute of Hawaii Pacific University to develop a nucleus shrimp breeding program in the U.S. Under the agreement, Oceanic Institute will supply Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) breeding stock selected and developed exclusively for Tru Shrimp.

The mass release of farm-hatched fish to supplement wild populations and increase harvest has been practiced across the world. In Japan, the northernmost island of Hokkaido has been home to Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) hatchery programs since the late 19th century. Between the late 1970s to the end of the 1980s, chum salmon (O. keta) populations increased exponentially, coinciding with enhanced hatchery technology and improvements in marine survival due to favorable climate and ocean conditions.

The return of cod (Gadus morhua) farming to Norway is based on a number of factors but is anchored by the continued efforts of the National Cod Breeding Program, Atle Mortensen, senior scientist at The Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research (Nofima), explains during his presentation at Aqua Europe 2018 held in August in Montpellier, France.

Russian company Biosphere-Fish has launched the first stage of a major sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) hatchery in the Republic of Tatarstan, 62 kilometers east from the city of Kazan, the regional government said in a statement.

Following the Aktau International Summit on August 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and leaders of other Caspian states released sturgeon fingerlings to the Caspian Sea. This symbolic gesture was to show the intention of the top officials in the region to enhance efforts to save the sturgeon population from complete extinction.

Russia’s scientist and businessman Rasul Bikmukhametov has launched a state-of-the-art hatchery in a small hangar using several know-how that are not applied anywhere else in Russia, the regional government informed in a statement on its website August 9, citing earlier reports made by the state-owned news media Vesti.

The oyster industry in New Brunswick, Canada, faces a best-of-times, worst-of-times scenario as it moves into the next decade. The Canadian province aims to grow the industry by 10 per cent annually over the next five years but concedes it has limited options for ensuring spat supply.

Russia’s biggest natural gas and oil-extracting companies Gazprom and Novatek have allocated funds to Soba Hatchery under its project to restore the whitefish population in Arctic rivers.

There’s a Winnemem Wintu legend that goes like this: “When we first bubbled out of our sacred spring on Mt. Shasta at the time of creation, we were helpless and unable to speak. It was Salmon, the Nur, who took pity on us and gave us their voice.  In return, we promised to always speak for them.”

A small number of Lost River and shortnose sucker fish were released along the shores of Oregon’s Upper Klamath Lake several weeks ago.

The mussels in the Delaware River Basin are about to get a helping hand.

LP Kuzmitch, a privately-owned company in Eastern Kazakhstan, plans to start producing sturgeon fingerlings in a bid to restore populations of this species in the region.

Global aquaculture supplier AKVA group and artificial intelligence (AI) software developer Observe technologies have teamed up to bring a new, intelligent feeding assistant with pellet recognition to the market. 

SWEET HOME, Oregon – Fish egg sorter and fish egg counter manufacturer Jensorter has expanded production by adding a new facility in Hillsboro, Oregon.    

Shrimp and fish farmers and hatchery owners no longer need to rely on manual data entry to monitor their stocks and maximize profitability.

Wisconsin-based aquaculture equipment manufacturer Fresh-flo has made enhancements to its aerators, which fish farmers use to ensure their stock remains healthy during transport.

Pontevedra, Spain-based aquaculture feeding systems manufacturer FishFarmFeeder is launching a new hatchery feeding system of live feed.

Global aquaculture feed supplier Skretting is launching a new concept for recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) called RecircReady.

Canadian aquaculture technology firm XpertSea has launched new technology for shrimp farms that leverages data to provide insights for more effective farm management.

Norwegian commercial copepod producer C-FEED is proving success in transitioning research knowledge to industrial application. This year, C-FEED has signed its first commercial scale copepod supply contracts and is aiming for a turnover in the region of 30 million NOK (roughly US$4 million) in 2019. C-FEED is a spin-off company of Norwegian research firm SINTEF.  

The reliable production of high quality offspring is paramount for successful aquaculture. This is true for both a shift from quantity to quality in established species as well as for closing the lifecycle of new candidate species. High mortality rates can occur in hatcheries if abiotic and biotic conditions are not within tightly framed optima, which is a consequence of the reproductive strategy of many teleost fish species.

Hatchery Feeding Systems (HFS) manufacturer Nutrakol has nominated Fish Farm Feeder (FFF) as its European distributor. The nomination was announced during the Aqua 2018 trade show in Montpellier, France in August.

The European Patent Organization has issued an “intention to grant” in relation to Europharma’s patent application for its smoltification feed product, SuperSmolt FeedOnly.

TRC Hydraulics Inc., based in New Brunswick, Canada, has served the forestry, marine, agriculture and aquaculture sectors since 1986. Notably, since the 1990s the company has sold a 2.77 liter triploid production unit called the TRC-APV-M, or Aqua Pressure Vessel. Recently, the company unveiled the TRC-APV-6.0, a six-liter version of the device designed to handle higher volumes of production.