South
Africa’s University of Cape Town (UCT) has launched a collaborative
research project focusing on increasing the healthy aquaculture
production in sub-Saharan Africa, a region that contributes a mere two
percent share to the overall global farmed fish output.
The “One
Health” project entails research and the promotion of healthy feeds that
boost the immune systems of fish raised in aquaculture, in order to
counter the disease challenges that remain a major threat to fish
production in many African countries, according to Vernon Coyne –
project leader and currently an associate professor in the Department of
Molecular and Cell Biology at UCT.
“A major objective of the ‘One
Health’ project is to develop a new technology that will allow us to
rapidly generate antibodies specific to an uncharacterized pathogen that
can be used as a therapeutic and diagnostic, and subsequently, develop
DNA vaccines that can specifically prevent infections in healthy farmed
fish,” Coyne told SeafoodSource.
He singled out the Tilapia Lake
Virus as a major disease currently affecting indigenous fish in Africa,
with at least 10 sub-Saharan African countries – including Burundi,
Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo,
Uganda, and Zambia – reporting outbreaks.
“In addition, there are
numerous protozoan parasites that affect farmed fish, as well as
bacteria which are mostly opportunistic pathogens of stressed fish which
occurs in response to the nature of fish farming,” Coyne said.
Even
as the researchers proceed to develop a vaccine to cushion farmed fish
in Africa from the effects of disease, Coyne explained that bacterial
diseases “are generally treated with antibiotics, which is frowned upon
due to the potential of developing antibiotic resistance in farmed
fish.”
“There are no treatments for protozoan parasites at
present, and many vaccines against viral pathogens are currently in the
development phase,” said Coyne.
He identified inadequate knowledge
regarding the emerging diseases as a main issue of concern in terms of
treating diseases in indigenous farmed.
Meanwhile, Coyne predicts the use of healthy aquafeeds will improve the growth rates of farmed fish.
Coyne
is one of the people spearheading the project that could be linked to
other scientific initiatives to promote Africa’s aquaculture profile
under the Research Network for Sustainable Marine Aquaculture in Africa
(AfriMAQUA), founded in September 2019, which is being supported by
France’s National Research Institute to promote sustainable development.
Others
in the project include John Bolton, emeritus professor and senior
research scholar in the Department of Biological Sciences at UCT; Denzil
Beukes, associate professor at the University of the Western Cape; and
Brett Macey and Mark Cyrus from the South African Department of
Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries.
Under the ‘One Health’
project, the researchers will develop a vaccine against common
aquaculture fish diseases, and also come up with suitable aquafeed
formulation that will be used by fish feed manufacturers.
In
addition, the project would make the training of at least 15 young
researchers, 13 of them women, possible, and enable Africa’s aquaculture
stakeholders to understand how rainbow trout reared in seawater are
affected by seaweed and probiotic supplements.
“We plan to work with specific feed manufacturers to formulate and test our feeds under development,” Coyne said.
However, he added, the negotiation with feed manufacturers is still at an early phase.
“We
will only be involved in feed formulation and do not foresee ourselves
being involved in monitoring production of the feed,” he said.
