Metabolomic and Lipidomic Tools for Tracing Fish Escapes from Aquaculture Facilities

During adverse atmospheric events, enormous damage can occur at marine aquaculture facilities, as was the case during Storm Gloria in the southeastern Spanish Mediterranean in January 2020, with massive fish escapes. Fishes that escape were caught by professional fishermen. The objective of this study was to identify biomarkers in fish that enable differentiation among wild fish, escaped farm-raised fish, and farm-raised fish kept in aquaculture facilities until their slaughter. We focused on gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). We used nuclear magnetic resonance to search for possible biomarkers. We found that wild gilthead sea bream showed higher levels of taurine and trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) in their muscle and higher levels of ω-3 fatty acids, whereas farm-escaped and farmed gilthead sea bream raised until slaughter exhibit higher levels of ω-6 fatty acids. From choline, carnitine, creatinine, betaine, or lecithin, trimethylamine (TMA) is synthesized in the intestine by the action of bacterial microflora. In the liver, TMA is oxidized to TMAO and transported to muscle cells. The identified biomarkers will improve the traceability of gilthead sea bream by distinguishing wild specimens from those raised in aquaculture.

Nocturnal planktonic assemblages of amphipods vary due to the presence of coastal aquaculture cages

Nocturnal pelagic swimming is common in the daily activity of peracarids in marine ecosystems. Fish farming facilities in coastal areas constitute an optimal artificial habitat for invertebrates such as amphipods, which can reach high abundance and biomass in fouling communities. Additionally, fish farms may modify the local oceanographic conditions and the distribution of pelagic communities. The aim of this study was to determine if nocturnal abundance and species composition of planktonic amphipod assemblages are affected by fish farm structures, using light traps as collecting method. A total of 809 amphipods belonging to 21 species were captured in farm areas, compared to 42 individuals and 11 species captured in control areas. The most important species contributing to the dissimilarity between farms and controls were the pelagic hyperiid Lestrigonus schizogeneios, the fouling inhabitants Ericthonius punctatus, Jassa marmorata, Stenothoe sp. and Caprella equilibra, and the soft-bottom gammarids Periculodes aequimanus and Urothoe pulchella. The great concentrations of planktonic amphipods at fish farm facilities is a result of the input of individuals from fouling communities attached to aquaculture facilities, along with the potential retention there of hyperiids normally present in the water column and migrant amphipods from soft sediments. Therefore, in addition to the effects of aquaculture on benthic communities, the presence of fish farms induces major changes in planktonic assemblages of invertebrates such as amphipods.