Aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing food-producing sectors and a major contributor to meeting the food demand of the burgeoning global world population. The efficient control of the rearing environment to provide aquatic animals with the optimal conditions for growth remains at the core of profitable ...
Aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing food-producing sectors and a major contributor to meeting the food demand of the burgeoning global world population. The efficient control of the rearing environment to provide aquatic animals with the optimal conditions for growth remains at the core of profitable and sustainable aquaculture. In the last decade, we have seen the dramatic expansion in the production of traditional and mainstream species and, at the same time, the exploration of potential new species for farming that allows the diversification of aquaculture in many parts of the world. A better understanding of the biology of aquatic animals has been instrumental in the growth and expansion of aquaculture. Concomitant to these biological advancements is the development of new farming technologies, including novel production environments and innovative husbandry protocols, which have offered several opportunities to ramp up production, manipulate production cycles and control environmental quality. The aquaculture industry is currently at a stage where biological knowledge is advancing at a pace with technological innovations. Nonetheless, we are still at infancy in our understanding of how technology converges with biology in farming aquatic animals.
This Research Topic aims to summarize the challenges and opportunities of farming aquatic animals using advanced farming protocols and in novel production environments. It will gather papers that discuss the current state-of-the-art of different farming technologies and their role in ensuring sustainable farming of aquatic animals (vertebrates and invertebrates).
This collection will include reviews and original research articles that explore animal health, welfare, productivity, and sustainability within the context of the proposed topic.
Some of the potential issues include but not limited to:
1) Farming in recirculating aquaculture systems
2) Animal-Environment interactions in new systems
3) Prototypes for closed-containment systems
4) Health and welfare indicators
5) Ensuring optimal water quality
6) Environmental footprints of new production systems
7) Advanced sensors for monitoring fish health and welfare and environmental quality 8) Artificial intelligence in aquaculture farms
9) Economic feasibility of farming in new production systems
10) Disinfection and biosecurity
Image courtesy of Terje Aamodt
Keywords:
aquaculture, animal health, animal welfare, fish physiology, recirculation technology
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.