Ethical Analysis of the Use of GM Fish: Emerging Issues for Aquaculture Development

Improvements in production methods over the last two decades have resulted in aquaculture becoming a significant contributor to food production in many countries. Increased efficiency and production levels are off-setting unsustainable capture fishing practices and contributing to food security, particularly in a number of developing countries. The challenge for the rapidly growing aquaculture industry is to develop and apply technologies that ensure sustainable production methods that will reduce environmental damage, increase productivity across the sector, and respect the diverse social and cultural dimensions of fish farming that are observed globally. The aquaculture industry currently faces a number of technology trajectories, which include the option to commercially produce genetically modified (GM) fish. The use of genetic modification in aquaculture has the potential to contribute to increased food security and is claimed to be the next logical step for the industry. However, the potential use of these technologies raises a number of important ethical questions. Using an ethical framework, the Ethical Matrix, this paper explores a number of the ethical issues potentially raised by the use of GM technologies in aquaculture. Several key issues have been identified. These include aspects of distributive justice for producers; use of a precautionary approach in the management of environmental risk and food safety; and impacts on the welfare and intrinsic value of the fish. There is a need to conduct a comparative analysis of the full economic cycle of the use of GM fish in aquaculture production for developing countries. There is also a need to initiate an informed dialogue between stakeholders and strenuous efforts should be made to ensure the participation of producers and their representatives from developing nations. An additional concern is that any national licensing of the first generation of GM fish, i.e., in the USA, may initiate and frame an assessment cycle, mediated by the WTO, which could dominate the conditions under which the technology will be applied and regulated globally. Therefore, an integrated analysis of the technology development trajectories, in terms of international policy, IPR, and operational implications, as well as an analysis of a broader range of ethical concerns, is needed.     

长江中游典型鱼塘植莲的环境与经济效益分析

长江中游湿地区域的池塘经过连续多年的化肥养鱼导致了大量的氮、磷沉积在鱼塘底泥中。分析了鱼塘植莲对养殖后沉积的氮、磷的重新利用及植莲的经济效益。实验于2004年在位于长江中游的武汉市涨渡湖渔场进行。根据收支平衡计算了实验池氮、磷的转移量,根据投入产出计算了实验池的经济收入。逐月分析了池塘中水质理化指标和底泥中总凯氏氮（TKN）和总磷（TP）的含量。方差分析表明：总凯氏氮、总磷在池塘底泥表层（0～5 cm）、中层（5～10 cm）和底层（10～50 cm）当中的含量都出现显著性降低(〖WTBX〗P〖WTBZ〗<005)。养鱼池塘通过植莲后,每公顷有1 50938±2211 kg氮和188995±282 kg磷被重新利用;鱼塘植莲产生的经济效益平均为每公顷52 031±1 579元。实验表明鱼塘植莲既能够有效地改善池塘养殖的生态条件,又能带来较高的经济收入,是长江流域湿地保护和综合利用的一种高效的农业生态模式。     

Effect of drainage on CO2, CH4, and N2O fluxes from aquaculture ponds during winter in a subtropical estuary of China

Aquaculture ponds are dominant features of the landscape in the coastal zone of China.Generally,aquaculture ponds are drained during the non-culture period in winter.However,the effects of such drainage on the production and flux of greenhouse gases(GHGs)from aquaculture ponds are largely unknown.In the present study,field-based research was performed to compare the GHG fluxes between one drained pond(DP,with a water depth of 0.05 m)and one undrained pond(UDP,with a water depth of 1.16 m)during one winter in the Min River estuary of southeast China.Over the entire study period,the mean CO_2flux in the DP was(0.75±0.12)mmol/(m~2·hr),which was significantly higher than that in the UDP of(-0.49±0.09)mmol/(m~2·hr)(p0.01).This indicates that drainage drastically transforms aquaculture ponds from a net sink to a net source of CO_2in winter.Mean CH_4and N_2O emissions were significantly higher in the DP compared to those in the UDP(CH_4=(0.66±0.31)vs.(0.07±0.06)mmol/(m~2·hr)and N_2O=(19.54±2.08)vs.(0.01±0.04)μmol/(m~2·hr))(p0.01),suggesting that drainage would also significantly enhance CH_4and N_2O emissions.Changes in environmental variables(including sediment temperature,p H,salinity,redox status,and water depth)contributed significantly to the enhanced GHG emissions following pond drainage.Furthermore,analysis of the sustained-flux global warming and cooling potentials indicated that the combined global warming potentials of the GHG fluxes were significantly higher in the DP than in the UDP(p0.01),with values of739.18 and 26.46 mg CO_2-eq/(m~2·hr),respectively.Our findings suggested that drainage of aquaculture ponds can increase the emissions of potent GHGs from the coastal zone of China to the atmosphere during winter,further aggravating the problem of global warming.     

不同类型水产养殖对水环境影响的差异及清洁生产探讨

概述了水产养殖的发展现状，系统地介绍了不同类型水产养殖所产生的污染物在种类和数量上存在的差异，并对清洁生产在水产养殖中的应用进行了广泛的探讨。     

滤食性鲢鳙鱼对池塘浮游生物的影响

通过鲢鳙鱼不同密度的放养试验，研究了滤食性鱼类对池塘浮游生物结构的影响。结果表明，随鲢鳙鱼密度的增加，浮游植物生产力并不下降，密度有所提高；鲢鳙鱼的放养促使浮游动植物向小型化发展；鲢鳙鱼放养密度对浮游生物多样性指数无明显影响。     

Marine aquaculture and bottlenose dolphins’ (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Tursiops truncatus</Emphasis>) social structure

In this study, we investigate association patterns of 249 bottlenose dolphin feeding groups off Sardinia Island (Italy) from January 2000–May 2007 and describe how their association behaviour is related to their response to food patches created by a marine fin fish farm. We also tested the hypothesis that dolphins have different social structures with different feeding activities: Associations should decrease during opportunistic feeding behaviours as it is easier to capture prey, and cooperation is not as necessary. Sixteen individually identified bottlenose dolphins were observed participating in both opportunistic and not opportunistic feeding activities, with a mean of 30 ± 8 times and 9.6 ± 1 times, respectively. Bottlenose dolphins show non-random social behaviour during feeding and this behaviour differs depending on their specific foraging activity. Dolphin associations during feeding can be divided into three categories: acquaintances, affiliates, and feeding associates. Association behaviour during fish farm feeding is consistent with our hypothesis that during opportunistic behaviours, benefits from cooperation decrease, as it is easier to capture prey. Group size homogeneity in both feeding activities demonstrates that the number of dolphins engaging in foraging is not necessarily related with cooperation levels. Moreover, an adult dolphin may prefer to associate with a specific individual, independent of the sex, who shares the same foraging priorities. This study is the first to show how aquaculture is not only directly affecting marine predators but could also indirectly affect their social structure and behaviour.     

Predicting aquaculture-derived benthic organic enrichment: Model validation

A sediment trap validation study was conducted near the commercial sea bass and sea bream fish farm in order to assess the predictive capability of a particle tracking deposition model. The validation procedure consisted of two distinct phases. First, the deposition of particulate waste (i.e. fecal pellets and excess feed) was measured near a single net pen containing 19 tons of sea bass. Afterwards, the model quality was determined by statistical comparison of predicted and observed values.Goodness of fit analysis indicates that the model successfully accounts for more than 75% of variance in the observed deposition. At 5% significance level, predictions do not underestimate or overestimate observations and there is no bias. Mean absolute relative error of ±48.9% compares favorably to other published deposition models. Obtained results affirm the reliability of particle tracking techniques in modeling the aquaculture-derived benthic organic enrichment.     

几种工业废水可生化性判定指标的验证与评价

测定了几种工业废水的可生化性指标BOD5/COD比值和相对耗氧速率,根据模拟生物氧化塘的动态运行试验结果,提出以耗氧速率(R％)作为可生化性的判定指标,它比BOD5/COD比值测定快速,方法简便,更接近实际,并得出两个指标与生物塘COD去除率之间相关性的线性回归方程,为选择废水生物塘处理方案、预估其对COD的去除效率提供了理论依据。      

Metagenomic insights into the profile of antibiotic resistomes in sediments of aquaculture wastewater treatment system

To meet the rapidly growing global demand for aquaculture products, large amounts of antibiotics were used in aquaculture, which might accelerate the evolution of antibioticresistant bacteria(ARB) and the propagation of antibiotic genes(ARGs). In our research, we revealed the ARGs profiles, their co-occurrence with mobile genetic elements(MGEs), and potential hosts in sediments of a crab pond wastewater purification system based on metagenomic analysis. The residual antibiotic seems to increase ...     

Identification of two new cytochrome P450 genes and RNA interference to evaluate their roles in detoxification of commonly used insecticides in Locusta migratoria

Composite samples of Australian farmed Yellowtail Kingfish (Seriola lalandi) (YTKF) (n = 27), Mulloway (Argyrosomus hololepidotus) (n = 6) and manufactured feed (n = 5) were analysed to benchmark levels of a broad range of residues and contaminants of potential public health and trade significance. A subset of these samples [YTKF (n = 5), Mulloway (n = 2) and feed (n = 5)] was analysed for dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The mean concentration of dioxins in YTKF was 0.6 pg TEQ g⁻¹ (range 0.22-0.8) and in Mulloway was 0.16 pg TEQ g⁻¹ (range 0.16-0.16). The mean concentration of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in YTKF was 2.6 pg TEQ g⁻¹ (range 1.4-3.5), while Mulloway had a mean concentration of 0.67 pg TEQ g⁻¹ (range 0.57-0.76). The mean concentration of PCBs in YTKF was 21 μg kg⁻¹ (range 8.6-29) and in Mulloway was 5.4 μg kg⁻¹ (mean 4.7-6). The mean concentration of dioxin-like PCBs in YTKF was 2.1 pg TEQ g⁻¹ (range 1.2-2.8) and in Mulloway was 0.51 pg TEQ g⁻¹ (range 0.41-0.61). The mean mercury concentration in YTKF was 0.03 mg kg⁻¹ (range 0.02-0.05) and in Mulloway it was 0.02 mg kg⁻¹ (range 0.02-0.04). There were no detectable levels of any pesticide or antimicrobial compounds in any sample of YTKF or Mulloway. Attention is drawn to technical differences in port of entry testing programs such as sampling strategies, portion tested, laboratory methodology, residue definitions and reporting conventions that exporters’ products may be subject to. All residues and contaminants were either undetectable or present at very low levels when judged against Australian, Japanese and European Union regulatory standards (where set).