Global Information System about FishLarvae

LarvalBase:
A Global Information System on Fish Larvae

Theme:
Improve aquaculture, stock enhancement, and conservation of fishes through provision of relevant information.

Objectives:
Provide fisheries and hatchery managers in developing countries with fast and easy access to all information relevant to the identification and rearing of fish larvae for aquaculture and stock enhancement and for the conservation and re-establishment of fish biodiversity.

Background and Rationale

"...the information gap [presently hobbling] tropical fisheries probably cannot be bridged using [only] classical means, such as maintaining extensive libraries, encouraging interlibrary loans and electronic data exchange. Rather it can be expected that shortage of funds for such classic activities will become increasingly problematic, and hence increase the isolation of scientists working on tropical resources from the mainstream of their science and from reference materials. It is proposed to alleviate this problem by developing a self-sufficient database implemented on standard microcomputers [...] which would provide key-facts and information extracted from the literature. "
Daniel Pauly, ICLARM 1988

With this statement about the gap between increasing scientific knowledge and its limited accessibility to scientists in developing countries, the idea of FishBase was born. What ICLARM scientist Daniel Pauly said in ICLARM’s 1988 five year-plan, holds even more true today. FishBase has grown into an information system covering much of the breadth and the depth of knowledge of finfish, the largest group of vertebrates. FishBase 96 (Froese and Pauly 1996) has been positively reviewed in leading journals (e.g. McCall and May 1995) and has reached about 900 users worldwide, about 50% of whom work in developing countries. FishBase 97 was released in September 1997 and holds information on 17,600 of the estimated 25,000 species of finfish (Froese and Pauly 1997). FishBase is currently the main tool of an EU-funded training Program on fisheries and biodiversity management for 55 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. However, FishBase holds little information on ichthyoplankton and lacks data on fish larvae identification and rearing. The LarvalBase project will close this gap.

In the face of more than 30,000 titles annually recorded in the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), the information base for the aquatic sciences and fisheries is growing at a staggering rate. However, access to this information is difficult because the literature is scattered in numerous journals, reports, newsletters, and other outlets. The community of aquaculture scientists and other professionals in developing countries often find it difficult to get the required information on species that have potential to be reared under local conditions. This is a situation where a well-focused database can help.

1.  Background and Rationale for Enhancement of Fisheries Resources

1.1 Analysis of the problem
Aquatic ecosystems have tremendous value for humans. An estimated one billion people depend nowadays on fish for their protein and 200 million people derive their living from the sea. However, the exponential growth of human populations, combined with technical improvements in fishing have resulted in a situation in which very few fish stocks are not already fully exploited or overexploited (FAO 1995). This threatens the stability of whole ecosystems and it is imperative that ways are found to optimize fish yields on a sustainable basis. Critical habitats for the spawning and early life history stages of many marine and coastal fish species have been degraded or lost as a result of pollution, coastal development and other human activities. In addition, recruitment overfishing--the reduction of the spawning stock below a critical threshold--has prevented many populations from replenishing themselves to previous levels. Together these phenomena produce circumstances where marine habitats do not support as many fish as they could. Consequently, numerous ways are being explored to augment the natural supply of fish ranging from aquaculture to various fisheries enhancement methods (Munro and Bell 1997). The success of these approaches depends mainly on a substantial reduction of the high costs of producing juvenile marine fish.

1.2  Relevant Current Research
Stock enhancement and sea ranching have been practiced for decades for a wide variety of marine fish and invertebrate species. The lessons from these experiences, and the recent advent of a variety of techniques, have encouraged fisheries scientists and managers world-wide to consider the use of stock enhancement to increase the productivity of existing fisheries, to create new fisheries, and to restore those that were lost. The basic assumption is that the maximum carrying capacity of a habitat is rarely reached and consequently the trophic resources of an ecosystem should be able to support additional juveniles introduced from a hatchery or collected elsewhere. That is, enhancement of fish stocks is seen to be feasible.

Stock enhancement aims at increasing recruitment to a fishery by taking advantage of the high fecundity of most fish and helping larvae to survive their critical planktonic phase in artificial systems. Important biological attributes for species to be reared in hatcheries include the ability to spawn in captivity and the ease of larval rearing, such as non-cannibalistic behavior. Within the past 10-15 years, there has been a large increase in the number of marine species that can be reared in captivity (e.g., Suda 1991, Sorgeloos and Sweetman 1993). Techniques for acclimation of broodstock in captivity, and rearing of juveniles to a size where they can be released into the marine environment are now routine for a wide range of taxa. The greatest range of species is reared in Japan (Matsuoka 1989a, Honma 1993), but commercially viable aquaculture based on propagation of juveniles in hatcheries is established for many species elsewhere, notably in Asia, Europe, and North America (Csavas 1995). Modern capability to produce juveniles in hatcheries has, consequently, led to major opportunities for the implementation of stock enhancement programs (Manzi 1990). Ultimately, these programs will depend on the ability to mass rear juveniles cost-effectively. This has already been demonstrated for some species. For many others, appropriate economies of scale have yet to be developed.

Because of some of its potential impacts, the use of stock enhancement to increase the productivity of fisheries and restore severely depleted populations has become a controversial issue (Stickney 1994, Kearney and Andrew 1995). One school of thought favors increased fishing regulations and habitat protection and restoration, in preference to hatchery releases, while the other supports propagation and release as an additional management tool (Blankenship and Leber 1995). Clearly, it is time to find out whether hatchery releases are an effective and environmentally acceptable way of increasing yields and restoring populations across a broad range of species.

Light traps (Doherty 1987) have proved to be a very efficient method to capture huge quantities of pre-settlement larvae, i.e., just before a point of mass mortality when the newcomers ‘hit a wall of mouths’ at the reef (Milicich and Doherty 1994). Such light traps can now be assembled cheaply with local materials and are expected to give a boost to the aquaculture of groupers and other high-priced reef fishes. As it is easy to catch and hold these larvae alive, this approach can add value to them by i) sale of selected species to the aquarium trade, ii) sale of juveniles to growers, who supply the live reef fish trade, iii) grow-out to plate size for export and iv) grow-out of juveniles to a more robust size and the releasing them to areas in need of enhancement. In order to make this approach a sustainable success, information on identification, handling and rearing is of key importance.

1.3 Expected Impact and Benefits
LarvalBase will supply fisheries managers with key information on identification, proper handling and rearing of fish larvae.

Blankenship and Leber (1995) outlined a protocol for deciding how to select species as candidates for fisheries enhancement. LarvalBase will collect and compile all data needed for this protocol. Thus, managers contemplating stock enhancement will be able to make beforehand assessments of the difficulties and requirements of the rearing process for their target species.

Within this framework of stock enhancement, the main concern of LarvalBase in conjunction with FishBase is to be able to present necessary data "at a user’s fingertips", and thus to serve as a tool for a fast, reliable and complete assessment of species data in relation to stock enhancement measures.

2.  Background and Rational for Contribution to Finfish Aquaculture

2.1  Analysis of the Problem and Relevant Research
Fish resources represent a renewable source of food. Fish flesh provides a healthy diet and fishes are relatively easily accessible, at least in inland and coastal waters, to people in both industrialized and rural societies. The vital roles of fishes in aquatic ecosystems, and of aquatic ecosystems in the functioning of the planet, make it essential that more attention is given to fish conservation. Cattle breeders today regret that the genetic make-up of the auroch, Bos primigenius, the ancestor of cattle, was not preserved (Balon 1974, 1995); the same mistake should be avoided with fishes that are important in aquaculture.

Global aquaculture production is currently growing at about 6-7% per year, faster than any other food production sector. However, aquaculture remains vastly underdeveloped and its development has been very uneven (Born et al., 1994). It is probable that many more aquatic species could be farmed, on a larger scale, if proven technically feasible and economically viable (Pullin 1996). Many developing countries are regarded as having a high, but still not utilized potential for aquaculture. It is expected, that significance of aquaculture will rapidly grow in developing countries and will be of increasing meaning, at least as a sustainable basic protein source for native people but also to allow the producer to earn money by selling fish and other aquatic products.

Although the number of farmed finfish (about 200) is relatively small, there is a huge amount of aquaculture data available in journals and reports. Making generalizations from these data has been hampered by the lack of standardization in aquaculture experiments. These constraints will be addressed by increased efforts to standardize data. LarvalBase will provide a "model form" that can be followed by specialists dealing with larval rearing.

2.2  Expected Impact and Benefits
LarvalBase will be a comprehensive information system for data on fish larvae that are relevant to the field of finfish aquaculture. For instance, egg size and development time are very important in all captive breeding of fish because they can influence the design of hatchery equipment and the management and husbandry of all the life stages that are held in captivity. Where new species are considered, LarvalBase will be able to generate a profile of the most probable requirements for the rearing process. It will be possible to estimate the potential of a species to be reared successfully at a specific site by using the combined information in FishBase and LarvalBase.

3.  Background and Rationale for Conservation of Fish Biodiversity

3.1 Analysis of the Problem and Relevant Research
Fish hatcheries are now playing an increasingly important role in the conservation and recovery of threatened fish populations. Although captive breeding alone cannot resolve the large-scale problems of fisheries management or prevent the loss of taxa in nature, it can contribute to the saving of some threatened populations, to restocking lost populations, and to related laboratory research.

Captive propagation and restocking programs for threatened fishes have been started or proposed in several countries (e.g., Ribbink & Twentyman-Jones 1989, Budihna & Ocvirk 1990, Ingram et al. 1990, Reid 1990, Rochard et al. 1990, Skelton 1990, Williams & Miller 1990, Maitland 1994). In Australia, five species of threatened native freshwater fishes are the subject of captive breeding programs (Ingram et al. 1990).

Additionally, captive breeding has been used as one of a set of measures taken to balance the negative effects of water pollution and river regulation upon the ichthyofauna of continental rivers. Restocking has been used for decades to support fish populations that are targeted by sports fishers. The same approach may also be successful with populations that are suffering from other pressures.

3.2  Impact and Benefit
Conservation action needs to be based on a sound knowledge of the biology and ecology of threatened species, their communities and their habitats, especially when captive propagation and restocking are envisaged. FishBase and LarvalBase will complement one another and will supply the necessary basic data when considering options for conservation action. This data will enable biodiversity managers in developing countries to make well-informed decisions on conservation action.

4. Relevance to Current Technology
The LarvalBase project will relate to and make use of current technology in several ways. Firstly, it will apply the new media of choice for cost-effective distribution of large amounts of information, viz., the Internet and CD-ROM technology.   Secondly, it will make use of Intranet technology to allow experts to remotely enter and edit data in LarvalBase. Thirdly, it will make use of the Windows computer interface and multimedia software such as MS Access to create a user-friendly environment for retrieving and analyzing data, following the example of FishBase. Lastly, it will use modern personal computers to filter and combine massive amounts of data to predict, e.g., the suitability of an unstudied fish species to artificial rearing.

As for the technological aspects of larval rearing, traditional as well as new methods for capturing and rearing of fish larvae will be documented and evaluated in respect of their suitability and cost-effectiveness.

4.1 Positioning of the Project in the Research-Development Continuum
Within the research-development continuum LarvalBase falls into two categories: strategic, because it creates an empowering tool that allows managers in developing countries to make decisions based on the best knowledge available; applied, because it rearranges existing knowledge in a standardized and accessible form and seeks direct contact with and feedback from the end users, in the training courses that will reach managers from numerous developing countries.

4.2 Positioning of the Project within ICLARM and the CGIAR
The LarvalBase project will be executed by ICLARM’s Biodiversity and Genetic Resources Program. Within that program, it will be closely linked and integrated with the FishBase Project, one of ICLARM’s largest and most successful long-term projects. LarvalBase will also link with stock enhancement and larval rearing projects at ICLARM’s Coastal Aquaculture Center in the Solomon Islands and in the Caribbean. It will be integrated with the ACP-EU ‘Strengthening of Fisheries and Biodiversity Management in ACP Countries’ Project, that will involve 55 developing countries.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has established a System-wide Genetic Resources Program, including fish genetic resources (SGRP 1996). This program contributes to better management of genetic resources for agriculture, fisheries and forestry. The key requirement for these endeavors is accurate and widely accessible information. In this context, a FAO (1993) consultation on fish genetics recommended, among other things, that species databases should contain clear information on breeds, where they can be obtained, and all other genetic information available. LarvalBase can contribute to achieving this target and can give managers and other users a fast, easy, and coherent access to relevant information extracted from scattered literature, e.g., on the larvae of threatened fish species.

5. Mode of Dissemination of Research Results
The primary project output will be the database LarvalBase, which will be disseminated in CD-ROM form, and also made available on the Internet. LarvalBase will be presented in context with FishBase in training courses for developing-country fisheries professionals. New scientific output based on the (synoptic) analyses of the data available in LarvalBase will be published in scientific journals and presented at relevant conferences.

6. Related Literature
Balon, E.K. (1974): Domestication of the carp Cyprinus carpio L. Royal Ontario Mus. Life Sci. Misc. Publ., Toronto, 37 pp.
Balon, E.K. (1995b): Origin and domestication of the wild carp, Cyprinus carpio: from Roman gourmets to the swimming flowers. Aquaculture (in press ?).
Born, A.F., M.C.J. Verdegem, E.A. Huisman (1994): Macro-economic factors influencing world aquaculture production. Aquaculture and Fisheries Management 25, p 519-536.
Blankenship, H.L. and K.M. Leber (1995): A responsible approach to marine stock enhancement. Am. Fish. Soc. Symp. 15, p 165-175.
Budihna, N. and A. Ocvirk (1990): Breeding and restocking of salmonid fishes in Slovenia. J. Fish. Biol. 37a, p 239-240.
Csavas, I. (1995): The status and outlook of world aquaculture. Presentation to Sustainable Aquaculture „95. Honolulu, PACON International, 32 pp.
Doherty, J.D. (1987): Light-Traps: Selective but useful devices for quantifying the distributions and abundances of larval fishes. Bull. Mar. Sci. 41, No.2, 423-431.
FAO Fisheries Department (1993): Expert consultation on utilization and conservation of aquatic genetic resources. FAO Fisheries Report No. 491. FIRI/R49. FAO, Rome, Italy.
FAO (1995): The State of Word Fisheries and Aquaculture. FAO, Rome. 57 pp.
Froese, R. and C. Papasissi. 1990. The use of modern relational databases for identification of fish larvae. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 6: 37-45.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Editors. 1996. FishBase 96: concepts, design and data sources. ICLARM, Manila, Philippines. 179 pp.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Editors. 1997. FishBase 97: Concepts, design and data sources. ICLARM, Manila, Philippines, 256 pp.
Honma, A. (1993): Aquaculture in Japan. Tokyo, Japan FAO Association.
Ingram, B.A., C.G. Barlow, J.J. Burchmore, G.J. Gooley, S.J. Rowland, and A.C. Sanger (1990): Threatened native freshwater fishes in Australia - some case histories. J. Fish. Biol. 37a, p 175-182.
Kearney, R. and N. Andrew (1995): Enhancement of Australian fish stocks: issues confronting researchers and managers. In: Recent Advances in Marine Science and Technology „94, p 591-598 (Bellwood, O., Choat, J.H. and Saxena, N.K., Eds) Townsville, James Cook University.
Maitland, P.S. (1994): Conservation of freshwater fish in Europe. Nature and Environment (Council of Europe Press, Strasbourg) 66, p 1-50.
Manzi, J.J. (1990): The role of aquaculture in the restoration and enhancement of molluscan fisheries in North America. In: Marine Farming and Enhancement - Proceedings of the 15th US-Japan Meeting on Aquaculture, Kyoto, Japan October 22-23, 1986, pp 123-127 (Spark, A.K. Ed.). NOAA Technical Report NMFS 85, US Department of Commerce.
Matsuoka, T. (1989a): Japan sea-farming association (JASFA). Int. J. Aqu. Fish. Technol. 1, p 90-95.
McCall, R.A. and R.M. May. 1995. More than a seafood platter. Nature 376(6543):735.
Milicich, M.J., Doherty, P.J. (1994) Larval supply of coral reef fish populations: magnitude and synchrony of replenishment to Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 110: 121-134
Munro, J.L. and Bell, J.D. (1997). Enhancement of marine fisheries resources. Rev. Fish. Sci. 5 (2), 185-222.
Pullin, R.S.V. (1996): Biodivesrity and Aquaculture. CAB INTERNATIONAL. Biodiversity, Science and Development: Towards a New Partnership (eds F. di Castri and T. YounĖs) p 409-423.
Reid, McG. (1990): Captive breeding for the conservation of cichlid fishes. J. Fish. Biol. 37a, p 157-166.
Ribbink, A.J. and V. Twentyman-Jones (1989): Captive propagation as a conservation tool. Annal. Mus. Roy. Afr. Centr., Sci. Zool. 257, p 145-150.
Rochard, E., G. Castelnaud and M. Lepage (1990): Sturgeons (Pisces: Acipenseridae): threats and prospects. J. Fish. Biol. 37a, p 123-132.
SGRP (1996) Annual Report of the System-wide Genetic Resources Programme. International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome. 54 p.
Skelton, P.H. (1990a): The conservation and status of threatened fishes in southern Africa. J. Fish. Biol. 37a, p 87-95.
Sorgeloos, P. and J. Sweetman (1993): Aquaculture success stories. World Aquaculture 24 (1), p 4-14.
Stickney, R.R. (1994): Use of hatchery fish in enhancement programs. Fisheries 19 (5), p 6-13.
Suda, A. (1991): Recent progress in artificial propagation of marine species for Japanese sea-farming and aquaculture. In: Marine farming and Enhancement - Proceedings of the 15th US-Japan Meeting on Aquaculture, Kyoto, Japan October 22-23, 1986, pp 123-127 (Spark, A.K. Ed.). NOAA Technical Report NMFS 85, US Department of Commerce.
Williams, J.E. and R.R. Miller (1990): Conservation status of the North American fish fauna in fresh water. J. Fish. Biol., 37a, p 79-85.