Cyanobacterial blooms pose health risks to recreational water users. In New Zealand, cyanobacteria biovolumes are used to assess risk, but analyses can be time‐consuming and costly. In this study, measurements from a handheld phycocyanin sensor (Cyclops‐7, Turner Designs, USA) were compared with biovolumes from five lakes and a river in the Rotorua district over two years (2016, n = 121; 2017, n = 63). In the laboratory, relat...

We examined food chain length and food web complexity as indicators for assessing shallow lake resilience from 18 lowland lakes, which included lakes in near‐reference condition through to lakes that had undergone catastrophic regime shifts. We observed a trend of decreasing food chain length and food web complexity in lakes that had undergone regime shifts. Across the full trophic gradient, food web metrics were correlated wi...

This study examined long‐term stability in water quality of Lake Okataina, North Island, New Zealand, inferred from sediments deposited from 1836 to 2009, during which time there was a pyroclastic volcanic eruption (Tarawera 1886) and successive introductions of invasive mammals. Multiple geochemical proxies were analysed stratigraphically for organic matter loading, primary productivity, redox potential and phosphorus retenti...

Observations by satellite sensors provide data on inland water systems at spatial and temporal coverage superior to current monitoring programmes. We derived an empirical relationship for Secchi depth using in situ data from eight lakes and data from the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper, Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager between 1999 and 2018 in the Rotorua Lakes Region in New Zealand. This...

Scientists and environmental managers use stressor‐response (S‐R) relationships to characterise and predict ecological and socioeconomic responses to anthropogenic stressors in lakes and other aquatic ecosystems. S‐R relationships with thresholds (stressor levels beyond which small increases cause large responses) are reported with increasing frequency. Threshold responses pose risks of unanticipated degradation, but also prov...

Quantifying and interpreting variability in ecological systems allows us to better understand the driving forces that determine ecosystems functioning. We utilised earth observation‐based remote sensing to determine total suspended sediment (TSS) concentrations for 109 lakes over 16 years. The coefficient of variation (CV) was used to quantify variability of TSS at three temporal scales (monthly, annual and long‐term) and at t...

We characterised the quantity (mass per unit area or volume), quality (cabon:nitrogen ratio) and enrichment (δ 15 N) of basal food resources and benthic macroinvertebrates in six shallow lakes in the Waikato region, New Zealand, to elucidate patterns related to lake type (peat, riverine), habitat (littoral, mid‐lake) and enrichment status (Trophic Level Index >6 or ≤5). Total seston dry mass was dominated by fine material that...

Transcriptomics is the analysis of total RNA transcript in a cell, which gives a broad idea of cellular processes that are active and dormant. Recent advancement in next‐generation sequencing technologies like high‐throughput mRNA sequencing ( RNA ‐seq) facilitates in deciphering the functional complexity of the whole transcriptome of an organism. In the recent past, transcriptome profiling has been widely used in aquaculture...

L‐carnitine is a multi‐functional nutrient which plays a leading role in fatty acid metabolism in mammals and other eukaryotes. Its main physiological function is to promote fatty acid β‐oxidation to produce energy, which reduces body fat content and improves body weight without affecting moisture content in whole body and muscle. In recent years, its dietary supplementation in aquaculture nutrition has been studied in differe...

Marine tropical carnivorous (MTC) fish are less tolerant to high dietary lipid compared with cold and temperate climate fish. However, insufficient n‐3 long‐chain (≥C 20 ) polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC‐PUFA) compromises MTC fish health and growth which requires attention when choosing lipid sources in aquafeed formulations. Fish oil (FO) has been the major lipid source for feeding key MTC fish. We estimated that more than 20...

Mass mortality events are routinely reported in bivalve cultivation practices worldwide with significant economic consequences for the global aquaculture industry. Major contributors of these bivalve losses are infections caused by viruses and bacteria whose molecular action mechanisms are still not fully understood. This major bottleneck for shellfish cultivation presents an opportunity for fundamental research that can gener...

The global expansion of aquaculture has raised concerns about its environmental impacts, including effects on wildlife. Aquaculture farms are thought to repel some species and function as either attractive population sinks (‘ecological traps’) or population sources for others. We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis of empirical studies documenting interactions between aquaculture operations and vertebrate wildlife....

The lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), is one of the most common insect pests in commercial poultry farms, where it reproduces within the litter floor, feeding on poultry manure, spilled feed and other organic material. It can also infest, feed and reproduce on stored grains and related amylaceous commodities. Its significance is related mostly with the fact that it serves as reservoi...

The growth of aquaculture depends on protein sources that can reduce the pressure on fishmeal ( FM ), and Spirulina feed could be an option due to its high nutritional value. Studies on Spirulina as a food in diets of aquatic organisms have increased substantially in the past decade, but the fact that its use in commercial rations does not occur today indicates that there are still challenges that need to be overcome. This rev...

The Convention on Biological Diversity provides a framework for countries to implement laws regulating the access, use and exchange of genetic resources, including how users and providers share the benefits from their use. While the international community has been preoccupied with resolving the unintended effects of access and benefit sharing ( ABS ) on domestication in agriculture for the past 25 years, its far‐reaching cons...

Lower vertebrates like fish mostly depend on innate immunity as the first line of defence against invading pathogens. One of the defence mechanisms in innate immunity for fish is the use of phagocytic cells such as monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, mast cells and dendritic cells in fighting pathogens. These cellular cells employ a variety of mechanisms in protecting fish including but not limited to; the use of pattern reco...

The hybrid grouper discussed in this paper is a cross between female tiger grouper ( Epinephelus fuscoguttatus ) and male giant grouper ( Epinephelus lanceolatus ). Performed for the first time at this institute, the hybridization was motivated by the need to meet grouper demand. The hybrid has been a subject of thorough scientific investigations ever since it was produced. Qualities such as dietary needs, efficiency in growth...

Although aquaculture has grown nearly exponentially over the last six decades, providing 31.6 million metric tons of animal seafood in 2015, its rate of growth has slowed over the last 15 years. Here, we use case studies, drawn mostly from Asian shellfish culture, to suggest that ‘boom‐and‐bust’ production cycles – periods of rapid growth followed by collapse – cause significant losses of seafood production and to illustrate t...

Vibrio parahaemolyticus , V. campbellii , V. owensii and V. harveyi are causative agents of Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND) in shrimp. AHPND is recently one of the most important diseases worldwide because of the high mortality and huge economic losses in shrimp farms. Antibiotic resistance has caused concern into finding other options to fight against pathogenic bacterial diseases. Currently, the use of lytic...

Oxytetracycline ( OTC ) is one of the most used antibiotics in aquaculture. This raises concerns due to its effects in human and animal health, the environmental contamination and the consequences arising therefrom. This review focuses on the OTC application in intensive aquaculture. It compiles and complements the dispersed information, presenting a comprehensive study about the OTC effects, from its administration to farmed...

The most prominent limiting factor in aquaculture nowadays is infectious diseases as they lead to massive economic losses. These diseases are often partly controlled by vaccination, herbs or probiotics. Despite the fact that vaccination is the most effective prophylactic approach to disease prevention, researchers have started to use plant‐derived products and probiotics as adjuvants to boost the efficacy of fish vaccines. Thi...

Different studies have shown that insect meals can partially or completely replace the fish and soya bean meals that are commonly used in aquaculture. However, information is lacking on the amino acid and fatty acid contents and digestibility of different insect meals. Moreover, we evaluated different proportions of insect diets and determined how these affected the nutritional values of insect meals. Our purpose was to clarif...