Shark DNA Used to Buff Up Aquacultured Fish

It’s not every day that catching up on scientific literature causes you to almost do a spit-take on your laptop screen.  This happened to me recently due to the weird and wild world of aquaculture.  Aquaculture is the practice of growing aquatic animals such as fish and shellfish for the purpose of food, and has been held up as both a savior and destroyer of the marine ecosystem.  To get an idea of what this generally looks like (at least here in the U.S.), Amy has a whole series of posts on aquaculture operations in North Carolina.

As with land-based farming, aquaculturists are motivated to find ways to increase the food value of their stock.  The methods used are varied, from high-protein feed mixes to genetic manipulation.  Recently, farmed salmon genetically-modified to grow larger and faster than their wild conspecifics have been approved for human consumption by the FDA, though not without debate.  This man-made subspecies was created by modifying the already-existing DNA of the fish, but what if it turned out that simply injecting DNA from a different species could improve the growth and protein output of farmed fish?  And what if that foreign DNA came from sharks?

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Aquaculture in NC: Urban Aquaculture

Not everyone who wants to start an aquaculture farm has the privilege of picking up their family, leaving their job, and moving to a rural area. Note I didn’t say small town – many of the same rules apply to small towns as large cities. I mean at least a few miles from Main St. Not to mention, there’s lots of vacant lots right now in the sluggish real estate market that could be put to good use. That’s exactly what Rob Ellis decided when he opened Astor Farms in Charlotte, his hometown. He grows tilapia in an abandoned DHL warehouse near the Charlotte airport. And he shared his story at the NC Aquaculture Development Conference last week in New Bern, NC.

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