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Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Chaetoceros sp. (Badllariophyceae), Isochrysis galbana (clone T‐Iso) and Pavlova lutheri (Prymnesiophyceae), Nannochloris atomus (Chlorophyceae), Tetraselmis sp. (Prasinophyceae), and Gymnodinum sp. (Dinophyceae) were cultured at different extents of nutrient‐limited growth: 50 and 5% of μmax. The lipid content of the algae was in the range 8.3–29.5% of dry matter and was generally higher in the Prymnesiophyceae than in the Prasinophyceae and the Chlorophyceae. Increasing extent of phosphorus limitation resulted in increased lipid content in the Bacillariophyceae and Prymnesiophyceae and decreased lipid content in the green flagellates N. atomus and Tetraselmis sp. The fatty acid composition of the algae showed taxonomic conformity, especially for the Bacillariophyceae, where the major fatty adds were 14:0, 16:0, 16:1, and 20:5n‐3. These fatty acids were dominant also in the Prymnesiophyceae together with 22:6n‐3. An exception was I. galbana, in which 18:1 was the major monounsaturated fatty add and 20:5n‐3 was absent. The fatty acids of N. atomus and Tetraselmis sp. varied somewhat, but 16:0, 16:1, 18:1, 18:3n‐3, and 20:5n‐3 were most abundant. Gymnodinum sp. contained mainly 16:0, 18:4n‐3, 20: 5n‐3, and 22:6n‐3. An increased level of nutrient limitation (probably phosphorus) resulted in a higher relative content of 16:0 and 18:1 and a lower relative content of 18:4n‐3, 20:5n‐3, and 22:6n‐3. The nutrient limitation probably reduced the synthesis of n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Constraints on the availability of freshwater and land plants and animals to feed the 9.2 billion humans projected lo inhabit Earth by 2050 can be ovircome by enhancing the contribution the ocean itiakes lofoorl production. Catches from ocean fisheries arc unlikely to recover without adeijuate conservation measures, so the greater contribution of the oceam to feeding humanity must be derived largely frotn niaricuUurc. For the effort lo be successful, inariculturc must dose the production cycle to almidón its current ilepcndetice on fiilierics ciUchey. enhance the production of edible macwalgiie and filter-feeder orgdnisms; minimize cnvironnicnial impacts; and increase integration with food production on ¡and, tnmsferring water-intensi-r contponcuts of the human diet (i.e., production of animal pwtàu] lo ihc ocean. Acconimoilating these changes will enable the oceans to become a major source oj fooil, which we believe will constitute ihe uext food revolution in human history.

The importance of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) for human health has received more focus the last decades, and the global consumption of n-3 LC-PUFA has increased. Seafood, the natural n-3 LC-PUFA source, is harvested beyond a sustainable capacity, and it is therefore imperative to develop alternative n-3 LC-PUFA sources for both eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3). Genera of algae such as Nannochloropsis, Schizochytrium, Isochrysis and Phaedactylum within the kingdom Chromista have received attention due to their ability to produce n-3 LC-PUFAs. Knowledge of LC-PUFA synthesis and its regulation in algae at the molecular level is fragmentary and represents a bottleneck for attempts to enhance the n-3 LC-PUFA levels for industrial production. In the present review, Phaeodactylum tricornutum has been used to exemplify the synthesis and compartmentalization of n-3 LC-PUFAs. Based on recent transcriptome data a co-expression network of 106 genes involved in lipid metabolism has been created. Together with recent molecular biological and metabolic studies, a model pathway for n-3 LC-PUFA synthesis in P. tricornutum has been proposed, and is compared to industrialized species of Chromista. Limitations of the n-3 LC-PUFA synthesis by enzymes such as thioesterases, elongases, acyl-CoA synthetases and acyltransferases are discussed and metabolic bottlenecks are hypothesized such as the supply of the acetyl-CoA and NADPH. A future industrialization will depend on optimization of chemical compositions and increased biomass production, which can be achieved by exploitation of the physiological potential, by selective breeding and by genetic engineering.

In order to enhance growth, survival and quality during early juvenile stages of marine fish it is important to avoid lipid oxidation problems that are known to cause pathologies and disease. The aim of the present study was to characterise and compare the antioxidant systems in juvenile marine fish of commercial importance in European aquaculture, namely turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) and gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata). The experiment investigated the interaction of the dietary antioxidant micronutrient, vitamin E, with antioxidant defence systems. Fish were fed diets of identical unsaturation index supplemented with graded amounts of vitamin E. The relationships between dietary and subsequent tissue vitamin E levels were determined as well as the effects of vitamin E supplementation on lipid and fatty acid compositions of both liver and whole fish, on the activities of the liver antioxidant defence enzymes, and on the levels of liver and whole body lipid peroxidation products, malondialdehyde (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, TBARS) and isoprostanes. Growth and survival was only significantly affected in sea bream where feeding the diet with the lowest vitamin E resulted in decreased survival and growth. A gradation was observed in tissue vitamin E and PUFA/vitamin E levels in response to dietary vitamin E levels in all species. The activities of the main radical scavenging enzymes in the liver, catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase generally reflected dietary and tissue vitamin E levels being highest in fish fed the lowest level of vitamin E. The indicators of lipid peroxidation gave consistent results in all three species, generally being highest in fish fed the unsupplemented diet and generally lowest in fish fed the diet with highest vitamin E. In this respect, isoprostane levels generally paralleled TBARS levels supporting their value as indicators of oxidative stress in fish. Overall the relationships observed were logical in that decreased dietary vitamin E led to decreased levels of tissue vitamin E, and generally higher activities of the liver antioxidant enzymes and higher levels of lipid peroxides

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A recent meta-analysis indicates that trophic cascades (indirect effects of predators on plants via herbivores) are weak in marine plankton in striking contrast to freshwater plankton (Shurin et al. 2002, Ecol. Lett., 5, 785-791). Here we show that in a marine plankton community consisting of jellyfish, calanoid copepods and algae, jellyfish predation consistently reduced copepods but produced two distinct, opposite responses of algal biomass. Calanoid copepods act as a switch between alternative trophic cascades along food chains of different length and with counteracting effects on algal biomass. Copepods reduced large algae but simultaneously promoted small algae by feeding on ciliates. The net effect of jellyfish on total algal biomass was positive when large algae were initially abundant in the phytoplankton, negative when small algae were dominant, but zero when experiments were analysed in combination. In contrast to marine systems, major pathways of energy flow in Daphnia-dominated freshwater systems are of similar chain length. Thus, differences in the length of alternative, parallel food chains may explain the apparent discrepancy in trophic cascade strength between freshwater and marine planktonic systems.

We quantified release rates of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) waste from Norwegian salmon farms in 2009 in order to evaluate the theoretical environmental influence on surrounding waters and the potential for integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) driven by salmon aquaculture. Of the total feed input, 70% C, 62% N and 70% P were released into the environment, equivalent to an annual discharge of about 404 000, 50 600 and 9400 t of C, N and P, respectively, based on total salmon production of 1.02 × 10 6 t. We predicted that 48% of feed C was respired as CO 2 , 45% of feed N was excreted as dissolved inorganic N (DIN), and 18% of feed P was excreted as dissolved inorganic P (DIP). Approximately 44% of feed P was released as particles, dominating solid wastes. The mean food conversion ratio (feed supplied per fish produced) of Norwegian salmon farms was 1.16 ± 0.08 SE in 2009. Estimates of the potential for IMTA driven by salmon farming showed a far higher potential for seaweed production based on the released DIN than for mussel production based on released appropriately sized particulate organic carbon (POC). The daily volumetric loading rates of DIN from salmon farms (range for counties: 40 to 501 µg N m −3 d −1 ) were <15% of the natural loading rate of nitrate from deep water, suggesting that the nutrient loading rate is within safe limits.KEY WORDS: Cage aquaculture · Atlantic salmon · Nutrient wastes · Feed conversion ratio · FCR · Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture · IMTA · Seaweed · Blue mussels Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher