© Progressive, modern production of juvenile Atlantic cod PROCOD Erik Vikingstad Akvaplan-niva

© PROCOD Duration; 3 years (2006 – 2008) 7 research (institutional) partners, 5 industry partners Total budget: 15 million NOK –NFR: 9 million NOK –Industry partners: 5 million NOK –Hordaland Fylkeskommune: NOK

© PROCOD; Research institutions Akvaplan-niva (APN), Tromsø University of Bergen, Department of Biology (BIO), Bergen Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Oslo Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB), Ås Institute of Marine Research (IMR), Bergen Norwegian Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture Research (NIFAR), Tromsø SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture, Trondheim

© PROCOD; Industry partners Marine Harvest AS, Bergen (On-growing facilities) SagaFjord SeaFarm AS, Stord (Juvenile production) Jarle Tveiten Transport AS, Hardanger (Transport – truck) Rostein AS, Harøy (Transport – wellboat) Fosen Aquasenter, Trondheim (Juvenile production)

© PROCOD; Areas of research Rotifer quality and start feeding strategies Quality of cod juveniles –Effects of temperature, salinity, and strain –Quality assessment with biochemical markers –Effects of environment on neurogenesis Water quality –Determining threshold limits –Open vs. recirculation production systems Transport of fish Welfare in cultured Atlantic cod

© PROCOD; Specific tasks Task 1: Optimizing rotifer quality SINTEF (BIO, UMB, NIVA, SagaFjord) Rotifer production in flow through systems (2006) B. plicatilis (Nevada) og B. ibericus (Cayman) a.Test different flow-through rates; 25, 50, 75, 100% water exchange per day (batch cultivation) b.Interval feeding or continuous feeding c.Batch cultivation or continuous cultivation Sampling a.Continuous measurement; O 2, pH, temperature, salinity, TAN b.Daily measurement; Density and growth rate c.At initiation and termination; Lipid, fatty acid, protein

© PROCOD; Specific tasks Task 1: Optimizing rotifer quality SINTEF (BIO, UMB, NIVA, SagaFjord) 1.Rotifer production in flow through systems (2006) 2.Nutritional value of the rotifers (2007) 3.Cleaning of rotifer cultures (2008)

© PROCOD; Specific tasks Task 2: Optimal start feeding scheme BIO (Akvaplan-niva, SINTEF, NIFAR, IMR, Marine Harvest, SagaFjord) Zooplankton vs. rotifers –8 Groups Zooplankton; Low and high density Rotifers; Low and high density Zooplankton → rotifers Rotifers → zooplankton Zooplankton → rotifers → zooplankton Rotifers → zooplankton → rotifers –Week 0 – 3; Rearing under original protocols –Week 3 – 5; Crossing of groups –Week 5 – 7; Return to original protocol

© PROCOD; Specific tasks Task 2: Optimal start feeding scheme BIO (Akvaplan-niva, SINTEF, NIFAR, IMR, Marine Harvest, SagaFjord) Zooplankton vs. rotifers –Sampling; Bi-weekly (2 weeks), weekly Growth, RNA/DNA, protein and fatty acid analyses Morphology, deformities Enzymes, hormones, molecular markers Fish transferred to sea cages at termination

© PROCOD; Specific tasks Task 3: Interactions of salinity, temperature, and strain Akvaplan-niva (BIO, NIVA, NIFAR, Marine Harvest) Post-weaning (10 g) Individually marked fish 2 strains (North vs. South) including fish from Task 2 2 temperatures (10°C and 14°C) 2 salinities (15‰ and 35 ‰)

© PROCOD; Specific tasks Task 3: Interactions of salinity, temperature, and strain Akvaplan-niva (BIO, NIVA, NIFAR, Marine Harvest) Physiological parameters; –Growth performance (weight, length, K, SGR), feed conversion, size hierarchies –Stress measurements Hormones (cortisol, thyroid hormones) Hydromineral balance (blood) Na + /K + -ATPase, gill structure –Welfare studies Deformities Feed intake Behavior

© PROCOD; Specific tasks Task 4: Transport of Atlantic cod NIVA (UMB, NIFAR, Jarle Tveiten, Rostein, Fosen) Study A; Small scale, simulated transport –Juvenile cod 10 – 100g, individually tagged –Duration; 6 hours –2 densities; Low (30 kg m -3 ) and High (160 kg m -3 ) –3 temperatures; Ambient (8 - 10°C), Low (4 °C), and High (18°C) –After transport, fish transferred to common tank and monitored for 90 days Study B; Full scale transport by truck and wellboat (Jarle Tveiten, Rostein)

© PROCOD; Specific tasks Task 4: Transport of Atlantic cod NIVA (UMB, NIFAR, Jarle Tveiten, Rostein, Fosen) Studies A and B; Sampling T1; Prior to loading T2; After loading, 10 min. T3; During transport, 2 hrs T4; Prior to off-loading T5; After off-loading Water quality, Direct measurement; O 2, pH, temperature Samples; pH, CO 2, TAN, TOC, NO 2, NO 3, ++

© PROCOD; Specific tasks Task 4: Transport of Atlantic cod NIVA (UMB, NIFAR, Jarle Tveiten, Rostein, Fosen) Physiological and biochemical analyses; –Stress measurements Hormones (cortisol, thyroxine) Blood physiology (glucose, pCO 2, pO 2, pH +) Gill structure and Na + /K + -ATPase Growth performance and feed conversion efficiency determined after 90 days

© PROCOD; Specific tasks Task 5: Identifying critical water quality parameters UMB (Akvaplan-niva, NIVA, NIFAR, IMR, Fosen) Water quality parameters analyzed in nearly all tasks –pH, temperature, O 2, alkalinity, CO 2, TAN, TOC, and relevant metals (Al and Fe) –Blood plasma parameters linked to water quality –Whole blood, liver and gill samples (metals) In vivo measurements of blood gasses

© PROCOD; Specific tasks Task 6: Comparison of open and recirculation systems IMR Task 7: Photoperiod effects on neurogenesis IMR