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Researcher investigates why fish feel the heat
When Kelli Anderson moved from Brisbane to enrol at the University of the Sunshine Coast, the keen surfer figured she would be focusing on the local marine environment both in her studies and her spare time.
Now close to finishing her PhD, the USC Environmental Science (Honours) graduate has travelled as far as Seattle in the United States and Tasmania to study the reproductive development of Atlantic salmon.
Ms Anderson, 25, of Sippy Downs, said her visits to the freshwater hatcheries of Saltas (Salmon Enterprises of Tasmania), inland of Hobart, provided great hands-on research experience with fish weighing up to 13kg.
In the United States she spent two months doing sample analysis at the Northwest Fisheries Science Centre, Seattle.
“After three years, I’ve finished both the field sampling and the lab work at USC and am writing up my findings,” she said.
Preliminary results indicate a variety of molecular and physiological reasons for the decreases in salmon fertility and embryo survival rates in higher water temperatures.
“Our aim is to find alternative ways of managing and handling the farmed fish to promote reproduction and better egg quality,” she said.
These could include artificially controlling the water temperature, further specialising the facilities or hormonal therapy.
“The salmon aquaculture industry is worth $300million a year in Australia and research on farmed fish may also be used as a model to better understand the implications of higher temperatures and climate change on wild fish stocks.”
Ms Anderson is working with USC Professor of Aquaculture Biotechnology Abigail Elizur on the collaborative project led by Griffith University.
The project involves Saltas and is funded by the Federal Government’s Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and Australian Seafood CRC.
Professor Elizur said the research was consistent with the University of the Sunshine Coast’s emphasis on sustainability.
“We’re giving the industry knowledge and solutions for dealing with environmental problems,” she said.
“Rising temperatures are pushing salmon to their limit of tolerance across the world, so this work has global relevance.”
— Julie Gatehouse