IPMA Aquaculture Research Station (EPPO)
Introduction
The Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, I.P. (IPMA) is a Public Research Institution devoted to Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences and Technology, established in 2012, with the merge of the Institute of Meteorology (IM), the Institute for Fisheries and Marine Research (IPIMAR) and the Marine Geology Unit of the National Laboratory for Energy and Geology. IMPA’s mission is the provision of technical and scientific support for the definition of national policy, operating and maintaining scientific infrastructures, data acquisition and processing, maintenance of national scientific databases on its areas of competence, and promotion and coordination of scientific research and technological development in its areas of expertise.
IPMA’s Aquaculture Research Station (EPPO) is marine core facility (Fig. 1) for research and technological development on aquaculture and biology, intended to carry out production studies at every scale from bench-top laboratory work to a much larger semi-industrial level. This facility has several collaborations with universities and private companies, by hosting experiments and/or providing biological material. It also provides scientific and technological knowledge transfer to farmers and training.
IPMA Aquaculture Research Station (EPPO)
Infrastructure: : IPMA Aquaculture Research Station (EPPO)
Location: Olhão, PORTUGAL
Web site address: https://www.ipma.pt/pt/pescas/eppo/
Contact: Pedro Pousão-Ferreira (pedro.pousao@ipma.pt)
Facilities
IPMA’s aquaculture research station (EPPO) occupies an area of 7 ha in the Natural Park of Ria Formosa, in Olhão (Portugal), and natural seawater within this facility is collected from the Ria Formosa lagoon. EPPO research group has more than 30 years’ experience on marine fish aquaculture, mainly on broodstock management, marine fish larvae rearing, fish feeding and nutrition, fish physiology and pathology. More recently other research areas at EPPO, focuses on the sustainability of aquaculture production, studying the potential of new species, on the identification quality and welfare biomarkers and on the optimization of environmentally friendly production systems. This facility holds breeders of different fish species, namely Argyrosomus regius, Sparus aurata, Sardina pilchardus, several Diplodus sp, Solea senegalensis, Dicentrarchus labrax, Seriola rivoliana, Epinephelus marginatus. This facility has more than 260 tanks (indoor and outdoor), and earthen ponds (17), these last being used with different production systems (monoculture, polyculture and integrated multitrophic aquaculture). Facility has different tank volumes and circulation that allows to adapt to different experimental conditions, and technical capacity to manipulate water physical-parameters salinity, temperature, and oxygen levels. Controlled photoperiod and water physico-chemical parameters automatically monitored. Apart from wet laboratories, analytical laboratories on biochemistry, fish pathology and molecular biology, provide and integrated and multidisciplinary research approach.
MAIN BUILDING
• Office area (first floor) of 30 m2, meeting room with VC system
• Laboratories (ground and first floor): Wet laboratory, Room for feeding preparation, Laboratories for optical and image analysis, molecular biology and pathology/microbiology.
• Controlled temperature room for phytoplankton and rotifers strains conservation (10 m2); phytoplankton strains – Tetraselmis, Nannochloropsis, Isochrysis, Rhodomonas, Skeletonema / rotifers – Brachionus spp. large and small strain.
• Controlled temperature room (20 m2) for phytoplankton production
• Controlled temperature room for rotifer production and enrichment (20 m2), with 6 (1 m3) and 2 (500L) cylindrical tanks; 16 units (20L) for rotifers trials.
• Controlled temperature room for Artemia production (10 m2), 6 for hatching (500 L) and 3 for enrichment (220 L)
• Wet room for live feed’s enrichment preparation (10 m2) and daily cold and aerated storage of enriched life feed 4 °C
• Controlled temperature and photoperiod room for larval trials (40 m2); includes 4 cylindrical conical incubators (200 l), 4 experimental systems (16 units 20 L; 12 units 100 L; 9 units 200 L; 12 units 300 L); UV treated water; automatic feeders; automatic monitoring of physico-chemical parameters
• Larval rearing area with 22 (1.5 m3) cylindrical tanks, with automatic monitoring of oxygen and temperature and automatic feeders
• Juvenile rearing area with 9 (250 L), 12 (300 L) and 20 (9 m3) cylindrical tanks, with automatic feeders; flatbottom tanks 3 (300 L) and 10 (150 L)
• Broodstock area with 6 (10 m3), 6 (8 m3) and 3 (18 m3) square-based tanks
SECOND BUILDING
• Laboratories for biochemistry, protein expression and water analysis
• Room for sample storage (fridge, freezers -20 °C and – 80 °C), lyophilized and sample treatments.
• Macroalgae hatchery room; glass aquarium 6 (70 L), 6 (40 L) 12 (20 L) and phytoclime chamber (294 L)
• Feeds storage, room for tanks and equipment maintenance and repair
PATHOLOGY CHALLENGING UNIT
• Two independent systems of 15 tanks (40 L) and 9 tanks (90 L) making a total volume of 1410 L, each unit working individually in closed system, automatic control of physical-chemical parameters (20 m2)
EXTERIOR PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
• Fiberglass tanks: cylindrical 24 (3 m3) and 9 (1 m3); flatbottom 6 (450 L)
• Pre-ongrowing area with 8 tanks (60 m3)
• Breeders tanks: 3 (50 m3) and 3 (12 m3)
• Ongrowing area with 7 and 10 Earthen ponds, respectively with 750 and 2500 m3
Topics of ongoing research currently at EPPO
• FEEDING & NUTRITION: Development and/or optimization of feeding protocols for larval stages; Fish larvae organogenesis; Fish larval nutritional requirement, with special emphasis on PUFA requirements; Lipid and protein metabolism; Study of novel ingredients for fish diets; Use of additives/supplements to promote fish health and welfare.
• ANIMAL HEALTH & WELFARE – Definition of good practices for the rearing of marine aquatic organisms; Identification of biomarkers regarding fish health and welfare; Identification and characterization of parasites; Development of diagnosis tools; Microbiology
• BIOTECNOLOGY & BIOREMEDIATION – Hatchery production of several local seaweed species; Biomass characterization of produced macroalgae;
• TECHNICAL – rearing protocols, fish handling, fish feeding, earth pond management
• IMTA – System with fish, bivalves and macroalgae.
Services currently offered by the infrastructure
IPMA’s Aquaculture Research Station (EPPO) offers access to several experimental circuits (*), with tanks with different volumes, shapes, and water circulation, in controlled environment enabling the development of a variety of experiments with selected life cycle stages of several marine species. Tanks and space can be adapted to fulfill specific experimental needs as temperature control, photoperiod, light intensity, or salinity. Access to some aquatic species can be provided under request, such as meagre (Argyrosomus regius), sole (Sole senegalensis), seabream (Sparus aurata), seabass (Dicentrachus labrax), sea urchin (Parenchentrachus lividus) and macroalgae (Ulva sp., Saccorhiza polyschides, Plocamium cartilagenum, etc). The available sizes are dependent on time of the year. EPPO has a team of researchers with a multidisciplinary background and technicians with expertise to rear different marine aquatic organism species at different stages of the biological cycle for technical and scientific support.
Complementary services include Biochemical analysis (digestive physiology, oxidative stress, blood biochemistry, welfare biomarkers, protein metabolism), Fish pathology (bacteria and parasite identification by biochemical methodologies, antibiograms, challenge trials), Molecular biology (gene expression analysis of growth, oxidative stress and welfare biomarkers, molecular identification of selected bacteria and parasites), but the costs will have to be covered by the user.
Modality of access
Users will be able to carry out their projects according to previous experimental planning, e.g. feeding behaviour, nutrition, growth and physiology, health. Access will comprise the use of tanks including maintenance, water supply, daily feeding and husbandry of fish, manipulation, and sampling of fish. Access to all dry laboratory facilities and other infrastructural, logistical, technical scientific support, as well as access to internet. Users will be provided with any necessary technical assistance, training and advice on methodologies, experimental design, and data analysis. Users are expected to provide a seminar and a report of the visit. Paperwork and shipment costs of special materials, reagents or equipment will be responsibility of the users.
Unit of access
Access typical consists in finalizing the planning (generally initiated remotely), the setting up and the monitoring of experiments. Longer experiments may be setup by service provider and the visit will be for monitoring and finalizing experiments, preparation of storage or other materials, collection of samples for various purposes, storage in appropriate media. Some samples may need to be initially locally analyzed in laboratories and platforms. Technical and scientific support will be assigned to the visitors according to the specific objectives of the TA. The unit of access at EPPO, is defined as tank/week. As an example, 20 units of access are 20 tanks for one week or 10 tanks for two weeks. There are 72 units of access allocated EPPO over the life of the project.