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Mathematical models recently developed in York have improved our understanding of the dynamics of marine ecosystems. They underpin paradigm-changing proposals to orient fisheries policy towards a "balanced harvest" and away from the traditional selective harvesting of species and sizes. These proposals have:
In July 2011, a fish disease simulator developed in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Liverpool was installed on computers at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas), an executive agency of the UK government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Since this date, the simulator has significantly improved the capability available to Cefas for understanding the likely spread of infectious diseases in the aquaculture industry of England and Wales, and enabled the optimisation of methods for the prevention and control of outbreaks. Specifically, a user-friendly interface enables Cefas to focus on particular diseases of concern, understand their specific pattern of spread and optimise methods for their control. The simulator is currently being used to develop contingency planning for outbreaks.
Research led by Professor Charles Tyler at the University of Exeter has provided critical data on the widespread adverse oestrogenic effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals in wild fish populations in the UK. This has triggered the UK government to take action through investment in research and development of policies and guidelines. The research has led to world-wide recognition that endocrine disrupting chemicals are an emerging policy issue, a £40 million demonstration project with the UK government and water industry, and multi-million pound benefits to the UK in terms of improved water quality and safeguarding freshwater wildlife.
Research on the status, distribution and ecology of sea turtles at the University of Exeter has driven national and international conservation policy, engaged millions of people worldwide and raised substantial funding for conservation. Governments including the UK, Cayman Islands, Cyprus and Gabon have used this research in making legislation and multi-million pound management decisions. Development of open-access animal tracking tools has facilitated a global network of over 135 countries, with more than 300 projects tracking thousands of animals from 118 species. The ability to adopt tracked animals online has attracted millions of visitors and raised funding for conservation projects world-wide.
Research into North Atlantic fisheries history undertaken under the auspices of the Maritime Historical Studies Centre (MHSC) has spawned, and been sustained by, a series of externally funded projects since 1996. The outputs of this research programme have influenced marine policy, heritage strategy, legal decisions and public educational provision concerning the relationship between human societies and marine animal populations over the long term. Such impacts have been delivered through searchable online stores of validated historical data, commissioned reports, websites (for academic, public and school audiences), presentations, dayschools, exhibitions, guided tours, books and journal articles.
Omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) are essential nutrients and have many beneficial effects on human health. Fish are the major source of omega-3 LC-PUFA in the human diet, and its level was maintained in farmed fish through the use of fish oil as a major component of extruded aquafeeds. Around 10 years ago it became clear that demand for fish oil would rapidly outstrip supply, limiting expansion of aquaculture activities, if fish oil use was not reduced. The challenge this presented was that alternatives to fish oil lack omega-3 LC-PUFA. However, replacement of fish oil with more sustainable alternatives is now standard practice in the industry. Research into fish oil replacement and omega-3 metabolism in the Nutrition Group, Institute of Aquaculture has been at the forefront of the scientific research in the UK and Europe that has ensured nutritional quality of farmed fish by developing alternative feed ingredients and feeding strategies that have maintained levels of omega-3 LC-PUFA despite radical changes to feed composition driven by sustainability and food security. This work culminated with recent demonstrations that farmed salmon can be net producers of marine protein (2010) and oil (2011).
Professor Barnes conducts world leading research on international regulation of fisheries. This informed his contribution to a research programme on Commonwealth fisheries policy. The research has helped to raise awareness, stimulate debate and change attitudes towards the international regulation of fisheries at the ministerial level and the local level through the Commonwealth study tour. The programme findings were published in `From Hook to Plate' and disseminated at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2009. Commonwealth members accepted the findings in this report, including the specific recommendations on fisheries regulation presented in Barnes's research.
Salmon maturation prior to harvest constitutes an environmental, welfare and production bottleneck for the salmon aquaculture industry. Our research has reduced the number of fish that mature during the grow-out phase so they do not reallocate energy to develop gonads and display secondary sexual characteristics that reduce yield, harvest quality and increase disease susceptibility that can result in downgrading at processing and lost profitability. In addition, reproductively competent fish that escape from on-growing cages may breed with wild stocks, leading to potential introgression. This has a major impact on public perception of farmed salmon and it limits the expansion of the industry. The IoA Reproduction team has undertaken a comprehensive body of work since 1993 to address this critical production bottleneck through an array of management strategies. This work culminated in the REF period by the demonstration that salmon puberty can be reduced to <3% by the use of standardised lighting regimes (2008) followed by the first commercial production of sterile salmon (2012-13).
Koi Herpes Virus is a notifiable disease in the UK which can cause serious economic losses in coarse and ornamental carp. It is a viral disease which is highly contagious and can cause 100% mortality in infected fish. In 2010, the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) made a policy decision, based on our mathematical modelling and computational work, that they would not attempt to eradicate the disease because it would not be cost effective. They used the model predictions to carry out an economic analysis which took into account the cost of the predicted number of outbreaks and the cost of surveillance. They concluded that the benefit of an eradication programme, over a time period of 20 years, would range between a net cost of £213m and a net benefit of £8.36m with their best estimate being a net cost of £5.48m (Section 5, reference 1, paragraph 1.6).
Tilapia, an important farmed fish is of fundamental importance to the food security of poor people in less developed countries, and ensuring high quality juveniles are available locally is critical. Stirling's Sustainable Aquaculture group have been instrumental in developing a novel decentralised approach to sustainable tilapia farming which has now been piloted and scaled up in NW Bangladesh (NWB). This work has improved the availability of high quality seed and more efficient and productive food fish. This has led to seasonal income smoothing and elevated household nutrition among the targeted poorer households producing the juveniles, as well as reduced costs and use of agrochemicals in associated rice production. Landless people have also benefitted through trading fish in targeted areas and further afield.