Manual on Hatchery Production of Seabass and Gilthead Seabream - Volume 1

Alessandro Moretti
STM AQUATRADE Srl
Castelraimondo, Italy

Mario Pedini Fernandez-Criado
FAO Fisheries Department
Rome, Italy

Giancarlo Cittolin
Maricoltura di Rosignano Solvay Srl
Rosignano Solvay, Italy

Ruggero Guidastri
STM AQUATRADE Srl
Venezia, Italy

M-42
ISBN 92-5-104380-9

Table of Contents

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Rome, 1999

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Applications for such permission, with a statement of the purpose and extent of the reproduction, should be addressed to the Director, Information Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.

© FAO 1999

PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT

ABSTRACT

SUMMARY & INTRODUCTION

Part 1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND PRESENT SITUATION

1.1- HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The fishery of wild fish fry in the Mediterranean
Fish seed demand from controlled reproduction
Technological evolution of Mediterranean fish breeding

1.2- PRESENT SITUATION

Vertical integration: the hatchery as a part of the “Farming System”
Production strategies

Multispecific hatcheries
Monospecific hatcheries
Multipurpose hatcheries

1.3- MAIN FACTORS AFFECTING FISH SEED PRODUCTION

Technologies
Environmental conditions
Marketing

Part 2. BIOLOGY AND LIFE HISTORY

2.1- SEABREAM GILTHEAD

Family Description

Family Sparidae

Biology
Geographic distribution
Reproduction
Fishery

2.2- THE EUROPEAN SEABASS

Family Description

Family Moronidae

Biology
Feeding
Geographic distribution
Reproduction
Fisheries

2.3- LIVE FOOD FOR MARINE FISH LARVAE

Microalgae
Biology of rotifers

Taxonomy
Morphology
Life history
Food
Mass culture parameters and conditions

Biology of the brine shrimp, Artemia.

Taxonomy
Morphology and natural history
Food
Rearing methods
Artemia use in aquaculture
Nutritional value of Artemia

Part 3. HATCHERY PRODUCTION PROCEDURES

3.1- BROODSTOCK MANAGEMENT

Establishing the broodstock

Stock dimensioning
Origin, capture and handling of broodstock
Selection and quarantine treatment
Stocking facilities
Feeding broodstock
Maintenance diet
Breeding period diet

Egg production

Gametogenesis
Stocking broodstock in the spawning tanks
Induced spawning
Stocking facilities for spawning
Out-of-season spawning

3.2- PRODUCTION OF LIVE FEEDS

Introduction
Mass culture of microalgae

Population dynamics
Mass production systems
Mass culture facilities for microalgae
Preparation of the culture medium
Mechanical filtration
Sterilization
Enrichment
Primary stock solutions
Working solutions
Culture equipment sterilization
Enrichment of culture vessels
Batch culture of microalgae
Pure strain culture
Protocol for test tubes replication
Protocol for purification of algal strains
Upscaling culture conditions
Scaling up protocol
Monitoring algal populations
Counting microalgae

Mass culture of rotifers

Population dynamics
Mass production systems
Mass culture facilities for rotifers
Preparation of the culture medium
Pure strain cultures
Upscaling rotifer cultures
Mass culture
Cleaning cultures
Harvest
High density rotifer culture
Enrichment
Monitoring rotifer populations

Production of the brine shrimp Artemia

Artemia cyst strains
Disinfection and decapsulation of brine shrimp cysts
Incubation
Harvesting of nauplii
Counting and evaluating Artemia nauplii
Enrichment and storage

3.3- FISH EGG MANAGEMENT

Gilthead seabream eggs and larvae development
Seabass eggs and larvae development
Egg harvest

Quality controls
Weighing, disinfecting and counting eggs

Incubation of eggs

Egg incubation in dedicated facilities
Egg incubation in the larval rearing tanks

Hatching

Viability of newly hatched larvae
Larval transfer to the rearing facilities

3.4- LARVAL REARING

Layout of the larval rearing system
Preparing the larval rearing system
Environmental parameters for larval rearing

Photoperiod
Light
Aeration
Water flow
Dissolved oxygen
Outlet filters

Feeding seabass and gilthead seabream post-larvae

First feeding
Transition from live feed to artificial food

Feeding protocol
Daily distribution of live feed
Daily storage of live feed
Hygiene in the larval rearing environment
Monitoring and controls

Quantitative evaluation of feeding performance
Qualitative evaluation of stress
Control of swim bladder development

3.5- WEANING

The rearing system
Preparation of the weaning unit
Fry culture

Rearing parameters
Transferring fish from larval to weaning section

Feeding

Feeding live-food
Feeding moist food
Feeding dry feed
Feed distribution

Management of the weaning section

Staff
Daily operations

Control of environmental and biological parameters

Fish behaviour
Controlling growth and deformity rate
Fry grading
Sorting fry with skeletal deformities
Swim-bladder control
Cleaning
Hygiene and sanitary conditions in the rearing environment

3.6- FRY TRANSPORT

Transport equipment

Vehicles
Tanks
Oxygenation systems
Monitoring oxygen

Water quality

Dissolved oxygen
Salinity
pH
Temperature
Ammonia
Carbon dioxide
Turbidity
Foam

Stocking density for transport
Fry handling

Transport conditions
Loading
Controls during transport
Unloading and precautions at point of arrival

Fry counting

Individual counting
Counting based on sub-samples
Counting by weight
Automatic counting

3.7- FRY DISEASES: INTRODUCTION TO THEIR OBSERVATION, ANALYSIS AND FIRST TREATMENT

Studying lesions at the skin surface
Observing internal organs of diseased fish

3.8- MORPHOANATOMIC AND MORPHOMETRIC STANDARDS

Morphoanatomic performance
Urinary calculosis
Swim-bladder development
Skeletal deformities
Deformities in newly hatched larvae
Jaw and opercula deformities
Backbone deformities