Day 1

Abstract- Opportunities, Challenges and Future Directions of Seaweed Aquaculture

Global seaweed aquaculture production is approximately 29.4 million metric tons with an annual value of $11.7 billion in 2016. In the past four hundred years, seaweeds have been very important part in Asian cuisine more so than in western cultures. Global seaweed aquaculture production occupies approximately 25% of total world marine aquaculture production by weight, with upwards of 97% being produced in Asia. Seaweed aquaculture production is dominated (> 81 % of total production) by several species: the brown kelp, Saccharina japonica and Undariapinnatifida; and the red seaweeds including Pyropia/Porphyraspp. (‘nori’ in Japanese and ‘gim’ in Korean), Kappaphycusalvareziiand Eucheumastriatum (carrageenophytes) and Gracilaria/Gracilariopsis spp.(agarophytes). Currently, more than 50,000 tons of seaweed have been cultivated in the Americas and Europe with an annual value of US $51 million. Although seaweed aquaculture is a relatively new industry in North America and Europe, the demand by western markets is expected to increase rapidly due to growing consumer demand for new protein sources, healthy food supplements, food industry’s interest in sustainable textural additives and food security. The most valued of the maricultured seaweeds is the red alga Pyropia/Porphyra, or nori. It is a major source of food for humans throughout the world, although it is primarily cultivated in Asia (Japan, South Korea and China). Worldwide production is approximately 14 billion sheets, with an annual value of over $U.S. 1.4 billion. Pyropia/Porphyra has the highest commercial value per unit mass ($637 per ton) in comparison to other aquacultured species, kelp, $158; Gracilaria, $283, Kappaphycus/Eucheuma, $183 and Sargassum, $500.  In addition to Pyropia/Porphyra, other edible seaweeds include Gracilaria, Undaria, Saccharina/Laminaria and Caulerpa with their collective value exceeding $U.S. 9.50 billion. Seaweeds are also the industrial sources of carrageenans (Chondrus,Eucheuma and Kappaphycus), alginates (Ascophyllum, Laminaria, Saccharinaand Macrocystis) and agars (Gelidium and Gracilaria). These important polysaccharides are used in the food, textile, biotechnological and biomedical industries and have a global value of more than U.S. $1 billion. The increasing demand for safe, healthy, and minimally processed foods is creating an opportunity for seaweed products as functional foods, nutraceuticals, and alternative medicinal products in the global market place. There are now unique opportunities for seaweed farmers, both for land-based and open water farms, to work with phycologists, ocean engineers, plant geneticists and others to develop and apply advanced breeding technologies that will increase growth and productivity of these farming systems.

Abstract-Status and Future-oriented Practices of Mariculture in China

China's coast stretches across three climate zones from temperate and subtropical into tropical zones with 140,000 km coastline and 3,000,000 km2 of marine area and 6,500 islands under its jurisdiction, which hosts an exceptional marine biodiversity comprising about 20,300 recorded species. The rich coastal and marine resources in turn support the flourish development of mariculture industry. Mariculture in China could trace back to before Han Dynasty which started from 202 BC, when the oyster culture was practiced. In Son Dynasty (960-1279), the method of culturing pearls was invented. Since the establishing of People’s Republic of China in 1949, six development booms of mariculture could be identified: the 1st boom - marine algal culture in 1960s, the 2nd boom- marine shrimp culture in 1980s, the 3rd boom - shellfish culture in 1990s, the 4th boom - marine fish culture in the end of 20th century, the 5th boom - culture of precious marine products (e.g., sea cucumber and abalone) in the beginning of the 21th century, and the 6th boom – large marine ranching in the new era of 21st century. The mariculure industry in China has been developing very fast, and both the area and total output of the sector has ranked the top of the world, with 20.84 km2 and 20,007,000 tonnes respectively in 2017. The cultured species include fish, shrimp and crab, shellfish, algae and precious species, and the culture forms include pond culture, normal cage culture, deep water cage culture, raft culture, suspending cage culture, bottom sowing culture and industrialized culture, etc.. Main achievements of mariculture technologies are industrialized breeding, production of multiploid species, development and production of healthy pellet feed, new species culture, development of modern culture facilities and R&D of new culture technologies, etc..With the vast development, China’s mariculture is also facing big problems including self-pollution and exogenous pollution, lacking of excellent germplasm and seedlings, diseases and decreasing of space for culture, etc.. To deal with the challenges, China has devoted to the development to future-oriented mariculture modes, e.g. the ecological mariculture with IMTA (Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture) as main part and the modernized marine ranching are in practicing.

Abstract- Microalgae as Food Additive, Nutritional Supplement and Novel Food, from the lab bench to the market

The algal kingdom is divided into eleven classes as compared to only one class of all higher plants. The distribution taxonomy and classification of the algae is founded mainly on basic cellular features of pigments, carbohydrates and lipids assisted recently by genetic identification. Algae are spread in many habitats and ecological niches, in freshwater, marine and salt environments, from freezing to extreme high temperatures, under wide irradiation spectra and intensities, phototrophic and heterotrophic. Out of the many unicellular algae known only a few species have reached the applied arcade. The first species were Tetraselmis, Scenedesmus, Navicula, Isochrisis, Phaeodactylumand a few others used as feed in aquaculture and mariculture. Chlorella and Spirulina followed mid of the last century for human food in the Far East. A few other microalgae like Dunaliella,Haematococcus, Nannochloropsis, PorphyridiumandPhaeodactylumhave been introduced over the last decade for high value biochemicals of vitamins, polyunsaturated fatty acids and natural colors. In the last 10 years algae were considered as feasible option for biofuel but the low photosynthetic efficiency and the high cost of biosolar algal production together with sophisticated harvesting and processing turned the energy stage open to other lower cost energy resources.    

Case studies of economic success:Dunaliella, halotolerant member of the Chlorophyceae regulates its osmotic intracellular pressure by buildup of high concentration of glycerol up to 60% of the cell dry weight, simple carbohydrate with low economic value.

Dunaliella adapts to extreme solar radiation by the accumulation of excessive content of chloroplastic peripheral extra-plastidic globular orange β-carotene. The content of β-carotene may exceed 10% per dry weight, about 100 times higher than in high carotenoids vegetable and fruits like carrot, sweet potato, mango or persimmon. The β-carotene in Dunaliella is composed of two stereoisomers, all-trans and 9-cis reaching a ratio of 1/1 under certain growth conditions.

Parallel to Dunaliella and through closely similar physiology and biochemistry the fresh water chlorophyte Haematococcus pluvialis produces and accumulates high content of the pink-red pigment astaxanthin

NBT Ltd. Under licensing and knowhow agreement by the Weizmann Institute of Science has been cultivating Dunaliellasince 1987 in open ponds close to the Red Sea, Eilat on area size of 100,000m2 producing salt washed Dunaliella powder at the equivalent quantity of 3,000 kg natural β-carotene/year. Algatech Ltd., is cultivating Haematococcuspluvialis algae in close tubular photobiorectors in Kibbutz Ketura under knowhow of Ben-Gurion University and their major product is extracted astaxanthin oleoresin.

Dunaliella natural stereo-isomeric β-carotene, USA GRAS-FDA approved expresses medical and preventative properties against certain chronic diseases such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, psoriasis and the eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa. The associated medical studies are conducted by Tel Hashomer Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Israel to show that the clinical effect of Dunaliella is expressed through the conversion of the 9-cis β-carotene to two nuclear receptors, RXR, 9-cis retinoic acid and RAR, all-trans retinoic acid in equivalent ratio, both active as essential ligands in cell nuclear transcription.

Israel today is the pioneering country in applied phycology of micro algae, leading in cultivation, harvesting, processing and application, a global model of success.  

Abstract- Shellfish Aquaculture - Current Status and Future Opportunities

The harvest of shrimp, oysters and other shellfish has provided humans with healthy, nutritious and tasty seafood delicacies since the origins of mankind. Hatchery techniques have overcome dependence on wild stocks, enabling genetic improvement and rapid growth in shellfish aquaculture for an increasing variety of species. According to FAO statistics, in 2016, over 17.1 MMT of molluscs and over 7.8 MMT of crustaceans were produced in world aquaculture. From 2010, production grew 21.9% and 40.7% for molluscs and crustaceans respectively.

Mollusc culture is dominated by the bivalves: oysters, clams, scallops and mussels. Hatcheries hold, condition and spawn broodstock and then rear larvae and juveniles utilizing large quantities of microalgae as food. Growout techniques vary among species. One of the most important prerequisites is the selection of an appropriate site. In general, oysters are typically grown suspended in the water column or on structures elevated off the bottom in shallow water. Scallops are mainly grown in suspended culture and clams are typically grown in intertidal substrates.                                                                                                                      Crustacean culture is dominated by the farming of white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei comprising almost 50% of world shrimp consumption. Hatchery methods are based on genetically selected broodstock and refined larval rearing methods. Disease has been a major factor in the development and growth of global white shrimp production. Disease control is achieved through pathogen exclusion, breeding for tolerance and management of culture systems. Commercial ongrowing systems today range from very large low density ponds, to more intensive aerated systems. As intensification increases, control of culture conditions improves. The most advanced systems today rely on biosecure super-intensive production.                                                                  

Farming of shellfish, has both positive and negative impacts on humans and on the environment. Farmed seafood provides more than half of the fisheries products consumed globally and over 80% of shellfish. With growing human populations and increasing disposable income, consumption is expected to grow considerably over the coming decades. The challenge will be how mankind meets the increasing global demand for healthy food while assuring environmental, social and economic sustainability. Shellfish culture typifies some of the greatest opportunities and most daunting problems. The culture of bivalve molluscs has minimal and mostly beneficial environmental impacts while sustainable culture of fed species such as shrimp can be much more challenging. Excellent ongoing research is elucidating pros and cons of shellfish farming in terms of water quality, coastal habitats, effects on wild conspecifics, sociopolitical conflicts, and socioeconomic opportunities in the context of sustainable healthful food production. This enables maximization of benefits while controlling conflicts and impacts. Advances in culture technologies, feeds and feeding, health management, application of information technologies and expanding integrated multitrophic systems offer a bright future for the growth of shellfish aquaculture for the benefit of mankind.

Abstract-Developing socio-economic indicators to capture the social dimensions of marine food security

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), can be viewed as a bold commitment to produce a set of universal goals that meet the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges of our time. However, whether current measurement and reporting models adequately capture contemporary conditions and challenges remains to be seen. One such challenge that has been gaining global attention is the acquisition of marine food security via sustainable aquaculture (here in particular the SDG14 Target 14.4).             

Until very recently, governments of many countries of the globe, as well as their supporting organizations, have primarily addressed the biological and technical aspects of aquaculture. In its wake, social and cultural aspects of aquaculture production have taken a backseat in contrast to trade, technology and biological implications. The SDGs however explicitly include social and economic goals that need to be recognised side by side if aquaculture is to hold its promise of feeding a hungry world. We need to appropriately capture the complexity of the linkages between aquaculture practices and their economic, social, institutional and natural environments at the operational level. The observable rise of the “social license to operate” (SLO) and the “social acceptability” (SA) discourse in contemporary aquaculture research is a case in point for the failure to capture these linkages.                                                             

 Drawing on the observation that aquaculture development in Western Societies has largely failed to capture and evaluate these social effects across different scales and contexts, the presentation showcases outcomes of a method application which operationalised a set of social dimensions indicators based on the social dimension categories put forward by the United Nations (UN). The methods employed were a suite of social science mix-methods with a strong emphasis on qualitative data that allowed to contextualize aquaculture in a detailed manner across different scales. This enabled us to apply experimental questions which addressed important social dimensions relevant to aquaculture across locations and social variables. By visualising the social effects of aquaculture, a door may be opened for new narratives on the sustainability of aquaculture that render social license to operate and social acceptability more positive for future sustainable food security.

Abstract- Nutrition sensitive aquaculture: meeting the dual challenge of nutritional security and environmental sustainability

Malnutrition is still a major public health concern in developing countries, with micronutrient deficiencies persisting in large proportions across various population stratum. Fish are a critical source of micronutrients in many developing countries and thus can play a vital role in addressing these micronutrient deficiencies. Because declines in wild fish catch threaten nutritionally vulnerable populations, fish farming (aquaculture) presents an opportunity to meet local seafood demandand mitigate nutritional shortfalls. In this talk I demonstrate a ‘nutrition sensitive’ approachto aquaculture across three cases studies differing in time and scale: present aquaculture production (Bangladesh), future development scenarios (Indonesia) and a global scale scenario (for omega 3). Despite being large producers and consumers of fish, Bangladesh and Indonesia's farmed fish production lacks a‘nutrition-sensitive’ approach and does not target persisting malnutrition. Here, I identify systems in these locations with a high potential to contribute to sustainable development by comparing the human nutritional and environmental tradeoffs and synergies across species and production systems with a consistent methodology. I apply these results to specify aquaculture systems, both present and future, that will optimally meet nation-specific nutritional needs while minimizing environmental costs. On a global scale, preliminary results of an ongoing research reveal that global production of omega 3 via fisheries and aquaculture is suboptimal and can be increased. However, projecting into the future, closing the prevailing omega 3 gapbetween supply and demand will be increasingly difficult primarily due to large increases in demand on account of population growth especially in Asia and Africa. 

Abstract- Fishing and marine exploitation in the ancient Levant, finds from underwater and coastal research

Coastal and underwater research along the Israeli coast revealed finds associated with fishing and auxiliary artifacts dating from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period onwards. Finds from submerged prehistoric fishing villages represent the emergence of the Mediterranean fishing village which subsisted on the exploitation of marine and terrestrial resources simultaneously. Finds from these agro - pastoral - marine villages included perforated stones used as net sinkers, fishing hooks and gorges made of bone. Flint arrowheads found there could have been used in fishing while the flint daggers found, could have been used for fishing by free diving and for fish processing. Evidences from historical periods include Netting tools and fishing hooks made of metal, discovered in shipwrecks and coastal sites. Nets, made of organic materials, were not preserved. However, the find of stone and metal Fishing gear sinkers of different types, and moulds for casting lead sinkers, indicate the use of different kinds of nets. A set of artefacts used for fishing by light was recovered in Dor "lagoon". These included a unique iron Fire basket intended for setting fire on the prow of a fishing vessel. Several red coral harvesting devices were found in shipwrecks, though there are no such corals along the Levant coast, suggesting contacts with the central Mediterranean. Rope working Tools ("spikes"), integral parts of fishermen gear, were recovered, as well as remotely operated instruments, such as sounding-weights for measuring water depths and sampling sea bottoms, and Grapnels and salvage rings for retrieving entangled and lost fishing gear. Finds associated with aquaculture include rock-cut pools used for keeping Murex snails intended for purple die production, and for keeping live fish.

Abstract- Israeli fisheries in the Mediterranean

Daniel Golani and Dor Edelist

Israel Archaeological evidence indicates that fishing in the Mediterranean has been an important food-supplying activity in Israel for more than 9,000 years. It has also been an important cultural activity in the Mediterranean and still is today. The central importance of fish in our ancestors' diet found expression in the Bible, in rules of Kashrut of fish as well as in the Book of Jonah. The annual national catch for Israel increased from about 2,500 tons in the late 1940s and 1950s to a record annual average of 4,153 t*y-1 in the 1980s. In the 1990s and 2000s, the annual catch dropped to around 3000 t*y-1 and then in the 2010s to around 2,000 t*y-1. Regarding commercial fishery management, Israeli fishery may be divided into three categories: coastal (artisanal) including standing nets and hook-and-line, purse seine fishery and trawls; there is little overlap in fish species composition between these three fishery methods. Israeli fishery is greatly influenced by the replacement of indigenous fauna by Lessepsian migrants – non-indigenous organisms (including >100 species of fish) of mainly Indo-Pacific origin. For example, the Israeli bottom trawl fishery today relies heavily on Lessepsian migrants such as the Threadfin bream Nemipterus randali, the Goldband goatfish Upeneus moluccensis and the Brushtooth lizardfish Saurida lessepsianus – all of which are also in the top 10 most common trawl fish caught in the Indian Ocean. In the last 5 years, conservation has become a major player in shaping Israel's fishing policy. A well-funded large-scale campaign by the Israeli Society for the Protection of Nature has smeared the reputation of commercial fishers as pillaging the seas, mainly targeting bottom trawling, which it defined as a particularly destructive fishing method (despite the fact that the catch of trawlers is the only one that has remained steady over the years). It should be noted that the hidden goal of the recent fishery management reform is the total cessation of trawling in Israeli waters.The convinced decision makers wish to reform Israeli fisheries with a set of regulations which all but terminate commercial fishing in the Mediterranean coast of Israel. While some aspects of the reform are welcome, such as rebuffed enforcement, seasonal and spatial closures and regulations increasing minimum lengths of fishes and minimum mesh diameter in nets, other regulations and cumulative effects are too much for most fishers to bear. In 2016 the reform was officially launched, several trawlers were decommissioned by the government and cumulative regulations decreased resulted in a total fishing effort by about 40% immediately reducing national catch to about 1,200 t*y-1. Three years into the reform fish have yet to rebound and fill the nets of fishers, nonindigenous fishes are still on the rise and while this period may be too short for nature to recover, it was certainly enough for decision maker perception and resulting regulation to shift from under-regulation right into over-regulation decimating the fleet. After millennia of fishing and struggling to survive in a changing world on land and in the sea Israeli fishers, some belonging to the weakest sector of society, have now had to endure depreciation in their reputation and socio-economic status as well. 

Abstract- Seaweed as Food

Seaweed has been a component of human diet for thousands of years, or more accurately an important part of the nutritional arsenal. Not only humans but also livestock have traditionally been fed algae, both from a lack of fresh vegetables and to enhance the taste and the nutritional value.

Man has been collecting algae for thousands of years, cultivating naturally occurring algae pools as we find in Polynesia. And in large parts of Asia, it is grown in massive quantities at sea, both in warm and in cold sea water regions.

In the last century there has been a great development in the understanding of the relationship between algae taste and the different algae components, the amount of protein, the amount of sugars and the mineral contents.

Varieties of the same algae may be biologically similar but very different in taste. There are varieties that have developed tidal resistance under extreme conditions, which greatly affects the taste, compared to the same varieties which did not have to endure extreme conditions.

Taste is a product of conditions and environment in which the algae grows and there is a difference in the taste of types seaweed that may otherwise look almost identical. Only under a microscope can it be shown that the cells are placed on a membrane and each leaf has two sets of cells on both sides of the membrane. This in comparison to other similar looking seaweed that has only one set of cells without membrane.

We are now able to grow algae without a large body of water, spraying on nets with the addition of plenty of minerals. The result is a wonderful variety of healthy and edible flavors for humans.