Location: Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit
Project Number: 6066-10600-002-002-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 1, 2025
End Date: Jun 30, 2029
Objective:
Cooperator will perform research aimed to optimize catfish fingerling and foodfish productivity to maximize economic returns, optimize catfish diets for efficient growth and economic returns, identify and characterize existing and emerging Flavobacterium, Edwardsiella, Aeromonas spp. and other pathogens from catfish aquaculture, and develop and optimize vaccines and vaccine delivery strategies.
Approach:
Cooperators will perform research that examines potential production increases in intensively aerated production systems and examine economic yield in new ponds compared to depreciated ponds. Cooperators will evaluate alternative protein ingredients for channel and hybrid catfish, evaluate the supplementation of soy lecithin to catfish fingerling diets, and evaluate the effect of feed additives on production and health. Cooperators will provide diagnostic and pathology support to researchers and producers to identify priorities in fish health management. Cooperators will develop molecular diagnostic tests to identify species and strain variants of parasitic and bacterial pathogens. Cooperators will characterize the yellow-pigmented bacteria, such as novel Flavobacteria or Chryseobacteria, that are found in hundreds of clinical samples annually and determine their role in mixed infections. Cooperators will determine the epidemiology of myxozoan parasite life cycles in hybrid and channel catfish production ponds. Cooperators will develop a bivalent vaccine to protect catfish against multiple species of Edwardsiella bacteria, assess the need for revaccinating fish during the second year of production, and determine the efficacy of vaccination at temperatures below the threshold permissive for Edwardsiella ictaluri infection. Cooperators will determine efficacy of copper sulfate treatments and evaluate baits to attract and control snails that serve as disease vectors in catfish ponds. Cooperators will assess anti-parasitic agents to break the life cycle of the parasite Henneguya ictaluri.