Short-term starvation at low temperature prior to harvest does not impact the health and acute stress response of adult Atlantic salmon
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Aquaculture, Fisheries and Fish Science, Veterinary Medicine, Metabolic Sciences
- Keywords
- gut evacuation, Atlantic salmon, metabolism, immunity, heart stress signaling, mucosal integrity, cortisol, acute stress, starvation, clinical chemistry
- Copyright
- © 2017 Waagbø et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2017. Short-term starvation at low temperature prior to harvest does not impact the health and acute stress response of adult Atlantic salmon. PeerJ Preprints 5:e2837v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.2837v1
Abstract
Period of starvation is regarded as a sound practice in aquaculture prior to handling, transportation and harvest, to minimise impacts on welfare and ensure proper hygiene after harvest. However, documentation of welfare issues such as stress following starvation and handling in adult Atlantic salmon are lacking. This study aimed to examine gut emptying and potential stress during a two weeks starvation period, and whether this starvation period changes the tolerance for physical stress. The study confirmed slower emptying of the gut segments at low temperature. Plasma and bile cortisol, and selected clinical analyses were used to characterize potential stress, as well as the response to acute physical crowding stress during the starvation period. Neither the general stress level nor the ability to cope with handling stress was affected by a 14 days starvation period. Down-regulation of selected nutritional related gene markers in liver indicated classical starvation responses, with reduced metabolism and oxidative pressure, and sparing of nutrients. The response to acute handling stress was not affected by two weeks of starvation. There were minor effects of starvation on stress and health markers, as evaluated by plasma lysozyme activity and gene expression of selected inflammation marker proteins in heart and skin tissues.
Author Comment
This is a submission to PeerJ for review.
Supplemental Information
Dataset for liver mRNA expression, somatic data and gut content of starved controls and stressed salmon, including reference genes
Fig 1 and 2 dataset for liver mRNA expression, somatic data and gut content of starved controls and stressed salmon, including three reference genes
Clinical data set including liver mRNA data for starved controls and stressed Atlantic salmon
Plasma clinical analyses combined with liver mRNA data for starved controls and stressed salmon presented in Table 2 and Fig 2, including reference genes
Heart and skin analyses of starved controls and stressed salmon
Heart and skin mRNA expression analyses of starved controls and stressed salmon, including reference genes