Toxic shellfish raise warnings

New Zealand Herald (Auckland, New Zealand) , December 25, 2008

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The holiday tradition of digging your toes into the sand for pipi and tuatua is in jeopardy at beaches acrossthe Coromandel and Bay of Plenty. A paralytic poison has infected shellfish all along the coast between Tairua and the Motu River, east ofOpotiki, and health authorities are warning of dire health consequences for anyone who collects and eats shellfish from the area. Paralysis and respiratory failure are two possible effects of eating pipi, mussels, oysters, scallops and othersea creatures affected by the paralytic shellfish toxin. Even in lesser quantities, the poison can cause numbness, dizziness, double vision, and difficulty swallowingor breathing. A warning was issued on December 18 after toxic shellfish were found along the Bay of Plenty coastline fromMt Maunganui to the Rangitaiki River, between Matata and Whakatane. It has now been extended to cover the Coromandel coast from Tairua (including Tairua Harbour), south tobeaches including Whiritoa, Whangamata, Onemana, and east along the Bay of Plenty coast to the MotuRiver. Toi Te Ora, the Bay of Plenty District Health Board's publichealth service, said Tauranga and Ohiwa harbours, and all inshore islands along the large coastal area were affected. ``Further sampling unfortunately confirms high levels of paralytic shellfish poison along this extended stretchof coast,'' Toi Te Ora medical officer of health Dr Phil Shoemack said. ``The levels of toxin are particularly high and we strongly urge people to avoid all shellfish from this areauntil further notice.'' Warning signs had already been placed on Bay of Plenty beaches and further ones were being installedalong the Coromandel coast yesterday. Anyone suffering illness after eating shellfish was advised to seek medical attention. Updates on warnings will be posted on the New Zealand Food Safety Authority website: www.nzfsa.govt.nz Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2008 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. http://www.apn.com.au/ Source Citation: "Toxic shellfish raise warnings ." New Zealand Herald [Auckland, New Zealand] 25 Dec. 2008: 3. Gale Science In Context. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.

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Aquaculture
Biotechnology , 2007

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Description
The farming of aquatic organisms (plants and animals that live in water) in controlled, artificially mad ebodies of water is called aquaculture. Commonly raised aquaculture fish include Atlantic salmon, ch annelcatfish, tilapia, bait and ornamental fish, crawfish, and rainbow trout. Shellfish widely farmraised includeclams, mussels, and oysters. Aquaculture is different from the traditional method of fis hing called capturefishing, which uses several meanshooked fishing line, nets, or trapsto catch a quatic organisms in theirnatural environment. Aquaculture farmers place juvenile organisms (called seeds) in the fresh, brackish, or salt waters of anartificially constructed enclosure, such as a specially dug pond. The water is fertilized and the you ngorganisms are fed in order to produce large numbers of adult organisms as quickly as possible. A quaticfarmers make sure the water quality remains good in order to produce the largest and highest number oforganisms. Because aquaculture farmers actively raise fish in captivity, aquaculture is mor e efficient thancapture fishing, in which fish remain in the wild until caught.

Scientific Foundations
Virtually all fish use gills to "breathe" and are classified as vertebrates, meaning they have backbone s.There are about 25,000 known species of fish with 250 new species on average being discovered eachyear. They come in many sizes, from sharks that reach 40 feet (12 meters) in length to Stout Inf antfish thatare only about 0.3 inches (0.8 centimeters) long. The fish's head is connected to a spinal column; there is a tail, along with several limbs. Most fish ha ve fins(a type of limb) to help them swim. Scales are also found on most fish to protect them from

predators. Their sleek bodies, p ointed noses (called snouts) and posteriors, and wide tails allow most fish tomove easily through the water. However, some fish are shaped similar to snakes. Still others are flat orboxlike in shape. Thes e fish do not swim fast, but have colorings or other features that make them difficult tosee in their live s around coral reefs, in hollow cavities and caves, or on the floors of oceans.

Development
Aquaculture has been practiced for at least 4,000 years, mostly in such countries as China, Egypt, a nd Italy.Records have shown that Chinese farmers raised carp around 2000 BCE. Aquaculture spread throughEurope and across Asia where fish were captured from rivers and placed into ponds and oth er water bodiesuntil they were ready to be eaten. By the thirteenth century, France was raising mollu sks and Japan wasfarming oysters. Two centuries later, aquaculture farmers in Europe were adding manure to water (what wascalled pond fertilization) to help grow tiny animals and plants (called plank ton) that were fed to fish. In 1853, rainbow trout were first commercially raised in aquatic farms within the United States. In the 1870s,the U.S. created a system of federal and state hatcheries to raise fish in fresh water that later matured insalt water. Some of these fish stocked public and private waters for game fishing. Howeve r, only since thetwentieth century, as the world's population rapidly grew and as people ate more fish , did aquaculturebecome important for feeding the world's population. Trout were first farmed comme rcially in the westernparts of the United States during the 1950s. Later that decade, shrimp hatcherie s and farms wereestablished in Japan. In the 1960s, the salmon industry was established in Europe and the channel-catfishindustry was created in the United States.

Current Issues
As of 2004 aquaculture accounted for about forty percent of all seafood eaten by humans, according to theFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Since 1970, aquaculture farmi ng worldwidehas increased about 9 percent each year, according to the World Bank. The rapid grow th of theaquaculture industry, however, raises issues that affect populations worldwide.

Genetically Altering Fish

The possibility of genetically altered fish is causing much discussion worldwide. By inserting extra ge nesinto fish, aquaculture farmers are hoping to create fish that grow faster and fight off disease bette r thanwild fish. Researchers have found at least eleven fish species (including salmon, flounder, and trout) thatcould be altered genetically so that they will grow faster than they normally do in nature. Al most every kindof plant or animal that humans raise for food has been changed over time using tradi tional breedingtechniques. Fish, on the other hand, have been mostly harvested as they exist in the wild. So far, no fishhave been genetically altered and sold as food for humans except for some fish i n China. Fish waste is mostly feces and nitrogen byproducts. People living near aquaculture farms have been concerned about the amount of these wastes in their environment. However, to grow the best and m ostnumerous fish, aquaculture farmers work to prevent excess wastes. Quality-conscious fish farmer s use avariety of monitoring devices and removal equipment to detect and remove waste build-up as quickly aspossible. The antibiotics given to fish to treat diseases is cause for concern too. If fish are given antibiotics too oftenor at high doses, the fish may develop resistance to them. Also, the fish treated in this way may not be ashealthy to eat. Disease prevention is the best way to reduce the need for antibiotics. Good water quality andsafe farming practices, such as lower numbers of fish stock and high quality fish fee d, are ways to avoid theneed for antibiotics. When available, vaccines have also been found useful i n stopping disease. Some individuals and organizations are concerned that farm-raised fish may damage wild fish popul ations,especially if genetically modified fish breed with wild stock. Issues are also raised concerning humans eatinggenetically modified fish. As of 2006, no genetically modified fish products are allowe d to be eaten by thepublic in the United States. Strict state and federal regulations are maintained in the United States regardingthe uses of genetically modified organisms in aquaculture. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)chemicals banned in the United States in the late 1970shave b eenfound to contaminate most of the planet. As of 2005, the levels of PCBs in wild and farmed salm on, forexample, are equal. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and many inte rnationalhealth organizations, PCBs pose no health risk to most consumers. These organizations sta te that it iseasier to control levels of PCBs in farm-raised fish that it is in wild fish.

Words to Know
Antibiotics: Drugs that target and kill bacteria, but are ineffective against viruses. Brackish: A mixture of fresh and salt water. Feces: Solid waste of a living body. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs): A compound of biphenyl and chlorine that is considered a hazardous pollutant. Vaccine: A product that produces immunity by inducing the body to form antibodies against a particula r agent.Usually made from dead or weakened bacteria or viruses, vaccines cause an immun e system responsethat makes the person immune to (safe from) a certain disease. Mercury contamination of fish and seafood has been an issue for a number of years. Small fish take i nmercury (actually methylmercury), and larger fish then eat these smaller fish, and so on. Thus, larg er fishnear the top of the aquatic food chain have a higher likelihood of being contaminated by mercu

ry and maypose a threat to human health if eaten. Mercury poisoning has been associated with probl ems in humanssuch as birth defects, memory loss, and heart disease. In 2005 mercury levels in fish were found to rangefrom slightly reduced to about equal when compared to levels in the 1970s. Far mers who raise fish arebetter able to control mercury levels, since they can control what the fish eat and environments in which thefish are raised. For More Information Davenport, John. Aquaculture: The Ecological Issues. Malden, MA: Blackwell Science, 2003. Lee, Jasper S., and Michael E. Newman. Aquaculture: An Introduction. Danville, IL: Interstate Publis hers,1997. Lucas, John S., and Paul C. Southgate, eds. Aquaculture. Oxford, UK: Fishing News Books, 2003. Swann, LaDon. "A Basic Overview of Aquaculture: History, Water Quality, Types of Aquaculture, Pro ductionMethods." Aqua KE Aquaculture Documents Library. http://govdocs.aquake.org/cgi/reprint/2003/604/6040130 (accessed July 10. 2006). [See Also Vol. 2, Genetically Engineered Animals ; Vol. 1, Genetically Modified Foods .] Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale, Cengage Learning. Source Citation: "Aquaculture." Biotechnology: Changing Life Through Science. Vol. 2: Agriculture. Detroit: UXL, 2007. 313-317. Gale Science In Context. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. Document URL http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow? displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=SCIC&action=e&windowstate=no rmal&catId=&documentId=GALE %7cCX2830700078&mode=view&userGroupName=miss73488&jsid=020fc043838a3c6f45a5dc07e 0ba5ed8