LITHUANIA
The Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Laboratory was officially opened a year ago.
Lithuania’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Laboratory
A new centre for international collaboration The aquaculture and marine fisheries research laboratory of the Lithuanian Fisheries Service is a brand new experimental facility on the Curonian spit that is intended to serve multiple purposes. The laboratory was built with support from the European Fisheries Fund and will contribute to aquaculture and marine studies, both theoretical and applied, in Lithuania as well as the wider Baltic region.
T
he primary purpose of the laboratory, says Giedrius Macernis, the acting director, is to gather fisheries data from the Lithuanian exclusive economic zone in the Baltic Sea, as well from the high seas where Lithuanian vessels are active – the north Atlantic, the south Pacific, and off the coast of Africa. The data are analysed at the laboratory and the results sent to the European Commission, where they provide the basis for calculating fishing quotas. The data collected include biological information such as sex, maturity, 44
length, weight, and age, which is calculated from the otoliths. These are small stones in the head of the fish that record how old the fish is in a series of lines, similar to those seen in tree stumps. Each line represents a year. Otoliths play a role in the fish’s sense of balance. In the Baltic these data are collected mainly for the four species that are of commercial interest to Lithuania, Baltic cod, herring, sprat, and flounder. The information is used in three programmes, the national data collection, national environmental programme, and a programme to
research the status of fish stocks in Lithuanian waters.
Aquaculture research to benefit farmers, restocking programmes The research being carried out at the laboratory includes the study of recirculation aquaculture systems. There are three such systems in operation, one of which simulates conditions in a hatchery. Fertilised eggs can be collected and placed in incubators and once the larvae reach a minimum size they are moved to
bigger basins. The systems can be used with freshwater, saltwater, or brackish water. As on a commercial fish farm, the larvae are fed with artemia or brine shrimp, small pelagic organisms that are often used as the first feed for fish larvae. The artemia are obtained as eggs which are introduced into an incubator, a glass tube, the base of which is angled at 45 degrees. Artemia prefer water that is highly oxygenated, so oxygen is pumped in and the angled base allows the water to circulate better in the tube. The eggs hatch and the
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08/06/17 6:24 pm