Masters Research (Prog 1) - Australian Seafood Cooperative Research Center

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Production Innovation (Program 1)

Masters Research

Masters Research (Prog 1)

Evaluation of two electronic methods to assess sea cage biomass for on-farm feeding and harvesting strategies for Yellowtail Kingfish at Clean Seas Tuna Ltd farm sites

MSc Student: No student appointed
Student Affiliation: University of South Australia
Primary Supervisor: Dr Belinda Chiera
Co-Supervisor: Dr David Stone
Mentor: Mr Mike Thomson, clean Sea Tuna

About the Project

This project will facilitate the calibration, validation and implementation of two non-invasive electronic fish biomass counter systems: The Vaki biomass counter system and the AM100 stereo camera system to Clean Sea Tuna sea cages, to improve feed management practices for yellowtail kingfish (YTK), Seriola lalandi, and addresses improvement in production planning and efficiency of resource utilisation in routine operations, through growth modelling based on accurate inventory control and reduce costs of YTK production through refining feed management strategies to lower feed conversion ratios from 2:1 to 1.6:1.

Broodstock conditioning of sandfish, Holothuria scabra (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) and optimisation of spawning induction techniques

Project Number: 2010/781
MSc Student: Luke Turner
Student Affiliation: University of the Sunshine Coast
Primary Supervisor: Dr Ann Fleming
Co-Supervisor: Professor Abigail elizur
Mentor: William Bowman, Tasmanian Seafoods

About the Project

Luke's project will identify and evaluate various factors relating to broodstock conditioning and improving the reliability of induced spawning in Sandfish, Holothuria scabra Currently, there are critical bottlenecks in the hatchery culture of H. scabra in the Northern Territory (NT). These are; effectively conditioning broodstock for spawning, extreme brevity of the spawning season and a reliable spawning induction methodology.

Kuke's project aims to provide greater reliability and efficiency in the production of juvenile H. Scabra by; focusing on broodstock pond management, broodstock conditioning in tanks, spawning induction techniques using hormones and identification of parameters relating to egg quality.

This project will be the first comprehensive study of broodstock conditioning and spawning inducement of H. scabra in Australia.

Nutritional genomics and its application to aquaculture

Thesis being written

MSc Student: Linda Moss
Student Affiliation: University of the Sunshine Coast
Primary Supervisor: Professor Abigail Elizur
Mentor: Mr Mark Porter Ridley AquaFeed

About the Project

Linda's project aims to address the question: Can different aquaculture diets be assessed and evaluated by examining the expression profiles on known (or newly discovered) candidate genes that are responsible for, or associated with, the digestion and absorption of diet components?

Nutrition is a key significant consideration in aquaculture operations and absorption of molecular
components of feed is the main factor contributing to nutrition in fish. An innovative alternative to feed
trials is the use of nutritional genomics, where the specific response to the various diet at a gene
expression level can potentially predict the quality of the diet and its suitabilty for optimum aquaculture
use.

Candidate genes for such studies include genes associated with the digestion and absorption of
nutrients i.e. trypsin, aminopeptidase, bile salt-activated lipase, insulin, glucagon and cholecstokinin.
This project is expected to also lead to the discovery of a novel suite of genes whose expression is diet
dependant, leading to the discovery of suitable markers for diet effectiveness, reducing the necessity
and costs of feed trials.

Linda's research is expected to greatly enhance our knowledge of the molecular processes with feed digestion, absorption and feed development, thus not only offereing an attractive testing alternative to diet development, but also explore the animal's response to different diets.

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The Australian Seafood CRC is established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Programme. Other investors in the CRC are the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. Seafood CRC company members and supporting participants.