Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) are critical for the health of aquatic and terrestrial organisms; therefore, understanding the production, distribution, and abundance of these compounds is very important. Although the dynamics of LC-PUFA production and distribution in aquatic environments has been well documented, a systematic and comprehensive comparison to LC-PUFA in terrestrial environments has not been rigorously investigated. Here we use a data synthesis approach to compare and contrast fatty acid profiles of 369 aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Habitat and trophic level were interacting factors that determined the proportion of individual omega-3 (n-3) or omega-6 (n-6) PUFA in aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Higher total n-3 content compared with n-6 PUFA and a strong prevalence of the n-3 PUFA eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) characterized aquatic versus terrestrial organisms. Conversely, terrestrial organisms had higher linoleic acid (LNA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) contents than aquatic organisms; however, the ratio of ALA:LNA was higher in aquatic organisms. The EPA + DHA content was higher in aquatic animals than terrestrial organisms, and increased from algae to invertebrates to vertebrates in the aquatic environment. An analysis of covariance revealed that fatty acid composition was highly dependent on the interaction between habitat and trophic level. We conclude that freshwater ecosystems provide an essential service through the production of n-3 LC-PUFA that are required to maintain the health of terrestrial organisms including humans.

Phytoplankton are the main source of energy and omega-3 (n-3) long-chain essential fatty acids (EFA) in aquatic ecosystems. Their growth and biochemical composition are affected by surrounding environmental conditions, including temperature, which continues to increase as a result of climate warming. Increasing water temperatures may negatively impact the production of EFA by phytoplankton through the process of homeoviscous adaptation. To investigate this, we conducted an exploratory data synthesis with 952 fatty acid (FA) profiles from six major groups of marine and freshwater phytoplankton. Temperature was strongly correlated with a decrease in the proportion of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated FA (LC-PUFA) and an increase in omega-6 FA and saturated FA. Based on linear regression models, we predict that global n-3 LC-PUFA production will be reduced by 8.2% for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 27.8% for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with an increase in water temperature of 2.5 °C. Using a previously published estimate of the global production of EPA by diatoms, which contribute to most of the world's supply of EPA, we predict a loss of 14.2 Mt of EPA annually as a result of ocean warming. The n-3 LC-PUFA are vitally important for an array of key physiological functions in aquatic and terrestrial organisms, and these FA are mainly produced by phytoplankton. Therefore, reduced production of these EFA, as a consequence of climate warming, is predicted to negatively affect species that depend on these compounds for optimum physiological function. Such profound changes in the biochemical composition of phytoplankton cell membranes can lead to cascading effects throughout the world's ecosystems.

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Global aquaculture production has increased in recent years and it is predicted that aquaculture will provide the most reliable supply of seafood in the future. However, there are many controversial issues in aquaculture regarding food safety, nutrition, and sustainability; many of which are directly related to the nutrition and feeds for farmed fish. These nutrition-related issues must be considered in order to achieve balance in safe and nutritious food production and sustainability in aquaculture. This review highlights recent studies and discusses new and innovative aspects in fish nutrition. Some issues in the area of fish nutrition require consideration and improvement, such as: feed and nutrient efficiency, overfeeding and waste, fish meal and fish oil replacements, fish health, biotechnology, and human health concerns. The findings reviewed in this manuscript demonstrate promise toward improvement of the aquaculture industry through nutrition. This review is an update in fish nutrition research, and provides insight on the progression and evolution of this field in order to meet the needs of the industry with the purpose to achieve a balance in seafood production and environmental sustainability. The outcome of this review encourages the use of biotechnology as a tool to meet seafood production and environmental sustainability, in order to ensure global food security in the future and to improve our resource use.

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Camelina oil (CO) replaced 50 and 100 % of fish oil (FO) in diets for farmed rainbow trout (initial weight 44 ± 3 g fish(-1)). The oilseed is particularly unique due to its high lipid content (40 %) and high amount of 18:3n-3 (α-linolenic acid, ALA) (30 %). Replacing 100 % of fish oil with camelina oil did not negatively affect growth of rainbow trout after a 12-week feeding trial (FO = 168 ± 32 g fish(-1); CO = 184 ± 35 g fish(-1)). Lipid and fatty acid profiles of muscle, viscera and skin were significantly affected by the addition of CO after 12 weeks of feeding. However, final 22:6n-3 [docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)] and 20:5n-3 [eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)] amounts (563 mg) in a 75 g fillet (1 serving) were enough to satisfy daily DHA and EPA requirements (250 mg) set by the World Health Organization. Other health benefits include lower SFA and higher MUFA in filets fed CO versus FO. Compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) confirmed that the δ(13)C isotopic signature of DHA in CO fed trout shifted significantly compared to DHA in FO fed trout. The shift in DHA δ(13)C indicates mixing of a terrestrial isotopic signature compared to the isotopic signature of DHA in fish oil-fed tissue. These results suggest that ~27 % of DHA was synthesized from the terrestrial and isotopically lighter ALA in the CO diet rather than incorporation of DHA from fish meal in the CO diet. This was the first study to use CSIA in a feeding experiment to demonstrate synthesis of DHA in fish.

Camelina meal (Camelina sativa) (CM) is a potential protein source for aquaculture feeds, on account of its crude protein level (380 g kg À1 ) and inclusion of most indispensable amino acids. Two experiments were conducted with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Rainbow trout (44.9 g fish À1 ) were fed diets with CM at 0 g kg À1 (0% CM), 70 g kg À1 (7% CM), 140 g kg À1 (14% CM) or 210 g kg À1 (21% CM) for 12 weeks at 14°C in freshwater, and salmon (241.8 g fish À1 ) were fed diets with CM at 0 g kg À1 (0% CM), 80 g kg À1 (8% CM), 160 g kg À1 (16% CM) or 240 g kg À1 (24% CM) for 16 weeks at 14°C in sea water. Growth, lipid and amino acid tissue compositions were compared between species. Trout could tolerate up to 14% CM diets without affecting the growth compared to the control, while salmon fed ≥8% CM gained less weight than the control (P = 0.008). The feed conversion ratio in trout fed 21% CM was higher than the control (P = 0.002), and feed intake in salmon fed ≥8% CM was lower than the control (P = 0.006). Trout fatty acid and amino acid composition showed minimal differences between CM-fed and control-fed fish, while salmon showed significant alterations after feeding CM diets. Multivariate analyses emphasized differences in tissue composition between species fed CM diets.