In certain markets, live fish can be sold for substantially higher prices than fresh dressed fish. A significant live-haul industry has developed in the U.S. and fish are commonly hauled 1,500-2,000 miles (25-30 hours) to market. The most common species hauled are tilapia, channel catfish, and rainbow trout; a smaller amount of marine rockfish, hybrid striped bass, and carp are also hauled. The most significant advancement in hauling technology in the last 20 years has been the use of bottled oxygen gas or liquid oxygen to maintain adequate dissolved oxygen levels. These types of systems can maintain significantly higher DO levels than systems using air. Some common stressors include harvest and loading procedures (pumping or out of water transfer), shaking as the transport vehicle is moving, low frequency sound from the vehicle and water treatment systems, crowding, and poor water quality (high ammonia and carbon dioxide levels, low dissolved oxygen), high light levels, or extreme water temperature. The physical shape and construction of the hauling unit may have an important impact on localized low DOs, physical damage to the fish, and survivability. Very little information has been published on the chemical and physical conditions in transport systems during long-distance transport and this limited data may not be representative of current commercial systems. This research will be conducted with NWFSC staff in cooperation with private fish farmers in the Pacific Northwest. Specific sub-objectives will include the following: (1) Documentation of water quality during transport and impact on mortality and product quality (2) Design of efficient aeration systems for oxygen transfer and carbon dioxide stripping (3) Determination of the impact of transport tank design and aerator type on the thermal balance during hauling. The impact of this project will be increased survival and product quality of transported fish as a result of adopting the recommended protocols and utilization of the models. Project outputs will include peer-reviewed publications, popular publications, and conference presentations. Temperature will be measured using the thermistor sensors in the YSI ProODO or YSI 556 MPS units.

In certain markets, live fish can be sold for substantially higher prices than fresh dressed fish. A significant live-haul industry has developed in the U.S. and fish are commonly hauled 1,500-2,000 miles (25-30 hours) to market. The most common species hauled are tilapia, channel catfish, and rainbow trout; a smaller amount of marine rockfish, hybrid striped bass, and carp are also hauled. The most significant advancement in hauling technology in the last 20 years has been the use of bottled oxygen gas or liquid oxygen to maintain adequate dissolved oxygen levels. These types of systems can maintain significantly higher DO levels than systems using air. Some common stressors include harvest and loading procedures (pumping or out of water transfer), shaking as the transport vehicle is moving, low frequency sound from the vehicle and water treatment systems, crowding, and poor water quality (high ammonia and carbon dioxide levels, low dissolved oxygen), high light levels, or extreme water temperature. The physical shape and construction of the hauling unit may have an important impact on localized low DOs, physical damage to the fish, and survivability. Very little information has been published on the chemical and physical conditions in transport systems during long-distance transport and this limited data may not be representative of current commercial systems. This research will be conducted with NWFSC staff in cooperation with private fish farmers in the Pacific Northwest. Specific sub-objectives will include the following: (1) Documentation of water quality during transport and impact on mortality and product quality (2) Design of efficient aeration systems for oxygen transfer and carbon dioxide stripping (3) Determination of the impact of transport tank design and aerator type on the thermal balance during hauling. The impact of this project will be increased survival and product quality of transported fish as a result of adopting the recommended protocols and utilization of the models. Project outputs will include peer-reviewed publications, popular publications, and conference presentations. Un-ionized ammonia will be based on TAN, temperature, salinity, and pH. UIA will be computed from Tables 9 or 10 in http://fisheries.org/hatchery.

In certain markets, live fish can be sold for substantially higher prices than fresh dressed fish. A significant live-haul industry has developed in the U.S. and fish are commonly hauled 1,500-2,000 miles (25-30 hours) to market. The most common species hauled are tilapia, channel catfish, and rainbow trout; a smaller amount of marine rockfish, hybrid striped bass, and carp are also hauled. The most significant advancement in hauling technology in the last 20 years has been the use of bottled oxygen gas or liquid oxygen to maintain adequate dissolved oxygen levels. These types of systems can maintain significantly higher DO levels than systems using air. Some common stressors include harvest and loading procedures (pumping or out of water transfer), shaking as the transport vehicle is moving, low frequency sound from the vehicle and water treatment systems, crowding, and poor water quality (high ammonia and carbon dioxide levels, low dissolved oxygen), high light levels, or extreme water temperature. The physical shape and construction of the hauling unit may have an important impact on localized low DOs, physical damage to the fish, and survivability. Very little information has been published on the chemical and physical conditions in transport systems during long-distance transport and this limited data may not be representative of current commercial systems. This research will be conducted with NWFSC staff in cooperation with private fish farmers in the Pacific Northwest. Specific sub-objectives will include the following: (1) Documentation of water quality during transport and impact on mortality and product quality (2) Design of efficient aeration systems for oxygen transfer and carbon dioxide stripping (3) Determination of the impact of transport tank design and aerator type on the thermal balance during hauling. The impact of this project will be increased survival and product quality of transported fish as a result of adopting the recommended protocols and utilization of the models. Project outputs will include peer-reviewed publications, popular publications, and conference presentations. Total ammonia nitrogen will be measured using an Orion Ammonia electrode, calibrated daily with standard solutions (0.1, 1, 10, and 100 mg/Liter), and results expressed as mg/Liter TAN.

In certain markets, live fish can be sold for substantially higher prices than fresh dressed fish. A significant live-haul industry has developed in the U.S. and fish are commonly hauled 1,500-2,000 miles (25-30 hours) to market. The most common species hauled are tilapia, channel catfish, and rainbow trout; a smaller amount of marine rockfish, hybrid striped bass, and carp are also hauled. The most significant advancement in hauling technology in the last 20 years has been the use of bottled oxygen gas or liquid oxygen to maintain adequate dissolved oxygen levels. These types of systems can maintain significantly higher DO levels than systems using air. Some common stressors include harvest and loading procedures (pumping or out of water transfer), shaking as the transport vehicle is moving, low frequency sound from the vehicle and water treatment systems, crowding, and poor water quality (high ammonia and carbon dioxide levels, low dissolved oxygen), high light levels, or extreme water temperature. The physical shape and construction of the hauling unit may have an important impact on localized low DOs, physical damage to the fish, and survivability. Very little information has been published on the chemical and physical conditions in transport systems during long-distance transport and this limited data may not be representative of current commercial systems. This research will be conducted with NWFSC staff in cooperation with private fish farmers in the Pacific Northwest. Specific sub-objectives will include the following: (1) Documentation of water quality during transport and impact on mortality and product quality (2) Design of efficient aeration systems for oxygen transfer and carbon dioxide stripping (3) Determination of the impact of transport tank design and aerator type on the thermal balance during hauling. The impact of this project will be increased survival and product quality of transported fish as a result of adopting the recommended protocols and utilization of the models. Project outputs will include peer-reviewed publications, popular publications, and conference presentations. The oxygen transfer coefficient (KLa) will be determined by deaeration with nitrogen gas followed by aeration (0.60 slpm) using a YSI ProODO dissolved oxygen meter. The KLa value will be computed from the ASCE Standard for the Measurement of Oxygen Transfer in Clean Water http://cedb.asce.org/cgi/WWWdisplay.cgi?156576 The measured KLa values will be reported at 20C using a theta = 1.047.

Limited amounts of forage fish are available as an ingredient in feeds for the expanding aquaculture industry. Work is being conducted on a variety of underutilized materials to provide new sources of protein, oils, and minerals for fish feeds. These materials include invasive species such as carp and mussels, waste from fish and clam processing, and process waste from fish farms. Successful utilization of these materials adds needed protein and marine oils to the growing aquaculture industry, and eliminates the environmental impact of landfill or dumping at sea of these waste streams. Proximate analysis and solubility of new materials.

In certain markets, live fish can be sold for substantially higher prices than fresh dressed fish. A significant live-haul industry has developed in the U.S. and fish are commonly hauled 1,500-2,000 miles (25-30 hours) to market. The most common species hauled are tilapia, channel catfish, and rainbow trout; a smaller amount of marine rockfish, hybrid striped bass, and carp are also hauled. The most significant advancement in hauling technology in the last 20 years has been the use of bottled oxygen gas or liquid oxygen to maintain adequate dissolved oxygen levels. These types of systems can maintain significantly higher DO levels than systems using air. Some common stressors include harvest and loading procedures (pumping or out of water transfer), shaking as the transport vehicle is moving, low frequency sound from the vehicle and water treatment systems, crowding, and poor water quality (high ammonia and carbon dioxide levels, low dissolved oxygen), high light levels, or extreme water temperature. The physical shape and construction of the hauling unit may have an important impact on localized low DOs, physical damage to the fish, and survivability. Very little information has been published on the chemical and physical conditions in transport systems during long-distance transport and this limited data may not be representative of current commercial systems. This research will be conducted with NWFSC staff in cooperation with private fish farmers in the Pacific Northwest. Specific sub-objectives will include the following: (1) Documentation of water quality during transport and impact on mortality and product quality (2) Design of efficient aeration systems for oxygen transfer and carbon dioxide stripping (3) Determination of the impact of transport tank design and aerator type on the thermal balance during hauling. The impact of this project will be increased survival and product quality of transported fish as a result of adopting the recommended protocols and utilization of the models. Project outputs will include peer-reviewed publications, popular publications, and conference presentations. Dissolved oxygen will be measured with a YSI ProODO or a YSI 556 MPS unit and results expressed in mg/Liter. Units will be air calibrated daily.

Our experience with juvenile sablefish and long term rearing of broodstock indicate that salmon grower feeds currently used by commercial sablefish farmers for grow out are not optimally formulated to support maximum growth and efficient feed conversion. However, there are no published studies examining the effects of dietary nutrient balance on productive performance and growth at any post larval life-history stage for this species, and there are currently no commercial diets specifically formulated for sablefish in the marketplace. Because of the large impact of feed cost on the economic viability of farming sablefish, we are focusing on grow out diets intended for use during the post larval stages of development when the fish are being reared to harvest size. In this research, we use a novel statistical mixture model and response surface analysis method to determine the optimal level of dietary protein, lipid and digestible carbohydrate for testing. This approach permits simultaneous testing of diet formulations encompassing the full range of protein, lipid and digestible carbohydrate that can be produced commercially using today’s most advanced extrusion feed manufacturing technology. Raw data on rearing densities, tanks, water temperature, mortalities, ration and feed size may be available.

Fish and invertebrates that are unintentionally captured during commercial fishing operations and then released back into the ocean suffer mortality at unknown rates, introducing uncertainty into the fishery management process. Attempts have been made to quantify discard mortality rates using reflex action mortality predictors or RAMP which use the presence or absence of a suite of reflexes to predict discard mortality. This method was applied to Tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi, during the 2010-2012 fisheries in the Bering Sea. Discard mortality in the fishery is currently assumed to be 50% in stock assessment models, but that rate is not based on empirical data and is widely recognized to be in need of refinement. Over 19,000 crab were evaluated using the RAMP method. The estimated discard mortality rate was 4.5% (SD = 0.812), significantly below the rate used in stock assessment models. Predicted discard mortality rates from the 2010-2012 study were strongly correlated with the air temperature at the St. Paul Island airport in the Pribilof Islands. Using this relationship the discard mortality rate from 1991-2011was estimated at 4.2% (SD = 1.08).

In the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, there was concern about the risk to human health through consumption of contaminated seafood from the region. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in collaboration with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency, and Gulf Coast States, worked together to ensure that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico was safe to eat by developing seafood safety criteria, monitoring procedures, re-opening protocols, as well as seafood surveillance monitoring plans. As part of this seafood safety assessment, edible tissues of seafood collected in state and federal waters were tested for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and dispersants using sensory testing, as well as chemical analyses. To increase the analytical capacities of laboratories testing seafood from the Gulf, the FDA developed and validated high-performance liquid chromatography/fluorescence and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry methods (in conjunction with NOAA) that accurately and precisely measured chemical compounds, including dispersants, associated with this oil spill event. Thousands of seafood samples collected during reopening and surveillance in the Gulf, as well as those obtained dockside and in the marketplace, have been analyzed using these methods. This dataset includes information on levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and dispersant component dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate in edible tissues of commercially and recreationally important seafood species collected in Federal waters in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

Data provide presence/absence of gross abnormalities on individual fish, identified to species, to allow calculation of the proportion of fish caught that had externally visible abnormalities. Accounting kept track of type of abnormality. Sampling was conducted weekly in the middle estuary and the outer estuary (inlet) and data were summarized by month.