There is concern about the deteriorating nutrient status of aquatic receiving environments in New Zealand. We estimated the amount by which current nitrogen (N) concentrations and loads exceed criteria in rivers, lakes and estuaries nationally. Criteria corresponded to national ‘bottom‐line’ (i.e. minimal) environmental objectives set by government policy. Three metrics were evaluated: (1) degree of compliance describes the cu...

SedNetNZ is used to model the effect of erosion control undertaken under the Sustainable Land Use Initiative (SLUI) and predict the effect of climate change on sediment load in the Manawatū–Whanganui region. Sediment load in 2004 is estimated at 13.4 Mt yr −1 ; by 2018, ≈5000 km 2 of land had farm plans implemented and annual sediment load reduced by 6.2% of the 2004 load. If SLUI stops at the 2018 level of implementation, by...

Environmental sustainability and the long‐term wellbeing of Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand) are interdependent and degradation of landscapes risks the progressive degradation of Māori wellbeing. The present study developed an analysis framework based on Ki Uta Ki Tai (holistic‐mountains to the sea‐ management philosophy advocated by Ngāi Tahu) for exploring relationships between landcover and Māori values to enabl...

This study investigated the impact of pastoral land use and nutrient and fine sediment inputs on Microcoleus autumnalis and filamentous algae‐dominated mats, and benthic chlorophyll‐ a in streams (lower North Island, New Zealand). Surveying and sampling was undertaken monthly at 61 sites spanning a wide gradient in catchment cover and environmental conditions. Two boosted regression tree models were built. The first models inc...

Understanding temporal patterns in restored environments is important for identifying potential barriers to recovery and improved management of degraded habitats. In this paper, we use temporal beta diversity analyses to compare invertebrate community recovery trajectories in three restored agricultural stream sites under different integrated catchment plans, a native forest reference site, and two unmodified pasture control s...

To meet the challenges of preventing and reversing adverse effects of land use on ecosystems, management actions need to be founded on strong evidence. We used the pressure‐state‐impact (PSI) framework to assess evidence of land‐use effects on New Zealand freshwater ecosystems. The evidence consisted of published quantitative and categorical associations linking land‐use pressures to state changes and ecological impacts in riv...

Shrimp farming is considered the fastest growing aquaculture industry in the last decades, with an average growth in production of ~15% per year. Unfortunately, this industry has been affected by the emergence of viral diseases, and currently, there are no commercially available therapeutics against these pathogens. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the immune system components induced by viruses is imperative for the devel...

Asian countries are the major producers of cultured Penaeid shrimps such as Penaeus monodon and Penaeus ( Litopenaeus ) vannamei . In recent years, shrimp production has declined due to the emergence of a bacterial disease called acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND). This disease is mainly caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus , but other Vibrio species are also known to cause AHPND in shrimps. Here, in addition to revi...

For aquaculture to continue along its current growth trajectory and contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, value chains must become more inclusive. Smallholders and other local value chain actors are often constrained by circumstances and market failures in the global aquaculture industry. Integrating these actors into aquaculture value chains through inclusive business models (IBMs) is often touted as...

The accelerated growth of aquaculture has caused environmental impacts in many countries. Examples include the use of large volumes of water, discharge of effluents with high nutrient content, the occupation of large areas, natural habitat alternation and the escape of exotic species. Biofloc technology (BFT) is an aquaculture tool that requires minimal water exchange, promotes the nutrient recycling optimizing resources and p...

Currently, studies reporting the digestibility of carbohydrates, starch and especially non‐starch polysaccharides (NSP) in fish are scarce. Carbohydrate digestibility in the diet is largely dependent upon carbohydrate composition (starch vs. NSP). NSP are often considered to be indigestible and thus of no nutritional value. The present study reviews carbohydrates in fish feed, distinguishing between total carbohydrate, starch...

Given that the expansion of the aquaculture industry is associated with increased environmental impact and its strong dependence on fishmeal in the diet, the use of biofloc technology can reduce these problems. This technology absorbs inorganic nitrogen from aquaculture wastewater and improves water quality as well as produces microbial protein that is directly used as a suitable feed supplement for aquatic animals. Furthermor...

In integrated multi‐trophic aquaculture (IMTA), species from different trophic levels are raised in proximity to one another and the co‐products (organic and inorganic wastes) of one cultured species are recycled to serve as nutritional inputs for others. IMTA can reduce the ecological impacts near aquaculture operations, improve social perceptions of aquaculture and provide financial benefits for aquaculture producers via pro...

More than 26 billion juveniles of 180 marine species are released annually into the wild in over 20 countries, but the usefulness of this strategy remains unclear. Here, I analyse the effects of stocking by Japanese marine and salmon stock enhancement programmes and evaluate their efficacy through a Bayesian meta‐analysis of new and previously considered cases. The posterior mean recapture rate (±SD) was 8.3 ± 4.7%. Without co...

Fish gut microbiome confers various effects to the host fish; this includes overall size, metabolism, feeding behaviour and immune response in the fish. The emergence of antimicrobial‐resistant (AMR) bacteria and hard to cure fish diseases warrant the possible utilization of gut microbes that exhibits a positive effect on the fish and thus lead to the usage of these microbes as probiotics. The widespread and systematic use of...

In a context of increasing global food demand, the aquaculture sector, and more particularly bivalve mariculture, has expanded significantly. While the impact of bivalve mariculture was initially overlooked, it is now widely recognized that this industry can significantly impact the ecosystem and its services. Carrying capacity assessment tools have been developed accordingly and have proved to be a useful and efficient aid fo...

Non‐invasive functional exploration techniques can provide information on different aspects of general organism functioning and, unlike lethal or invasive techniques, allow individual organisms to be monitored for as long as necessary. For bivalves, a fairly wide variety of methods and instrumental means exist allowing physiology to be assessed on‐line while keeping animals alive and intact. The current range of non‐invasive t...

Bile is a yellow‐green liquid produced in the liver from cholesterol and stored in the gallbladder of vertebrates. Bile improves the efficacy of lipid digestion by acting as an emulsifier and is essential in activating bile salt lipase, an enzyme that has broad substrate specificity. Bile improves the absorption of lipid soluble nutrients while also facilitating the excretion of cholesterol and toxic metabolites, particularly...

Assessing the activity of acid pepsin‐like protease is a common procedure in many biological, physiological and nutritional studies in gastric fish species. After reviewing the available literature on fish digestive acid proteases (stomach acid pepsin‐like proteases), especially those species of relevance for aquaculture purposes, published during a time span of ten years (2008–2018), authors detected some possible methodologi...

Storage of refrigerated semen is a simple and inexpensive procedure that can facilitate the management and reproduction programmes in aquaculture and allows to store semen for in vitro reproduction, quality analyses, hatchery production support, selective in vitro breeding, disease diagnosis, transportation, cryopreservation and advanced molecular studies. Implementation of semen short‐term storage protocols for threatened or...

Marine ornamental fish are a key component of the multimillion‐dollar marine aquarium trade industry, a controversial industry due to current heavy reliance on wild‐collected specimens. Aquaculture of marine ornamental fish is considered as a sustainable alternative, but it is still in the early stage of development. This review focuses on the current state of marine ornamental fish aquaculture, by covering topics on reef fish...