Sea Bass Aquaculture
By: Eric Brown
What species are used?
European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax)
Sometimes marketed as Mediterranean Sea
Bass.
 Black Sea Bass (Centropristis striata)
 Spotted Sea Bass (Lateolabrax japonicus)
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Reproduction
Seabass Life Cycle
• Spawn in groups
•External fertilization
•Eggs pelagic
•2-4 year Sexual maturity
•Longer in Atlantic
Ocean
•Spawn once a year
•Embryos develop in 3 days
•Larval development occurs in about 40 days
•Protandrous except for European (dioecious)
Reproduction in Captivity
Feeding
Open Water
 Eggs feed on yolk
 Juveniles feed on
Zoobenthos
(worms,
crustaceans,
polycheates
 Adults – neckton
(finfish & bony
fish)
Aquaculture
•Larva – only feed
on small live food
(Enriched Rotifers
and artemia)
•Adults – pellet feed
(55% protein, 10%
lipid)
•FCR – 1.7:1
Production methods used
Cages (new)
 Lagoon Systems

◦ Intensive
◦ Semi-intensive

Hatcheries
◦ Broodstock
◦ Spawning
Lagoon Systems

Semi-Intensive
◦ Fisherman collect fry from coastal waters MayJune
◦ Transport with oxygenated tanks to special ponds

Extensive
◦ February - May
◦ Barriers – reeds,nets, cement
◦ Nomally polycultured with seabream, mullets, and
eels
Hatcheries
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Broodstock
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Breeders of different ages are maintained here
Parent can be farm raised or wild
Females 5-8years, Males 2-4 years
Induce ovulation by hormone treatments
Fertilization in spawning tanks and incubation in
open water
Spawning
◦ Move selected breeders to spawning tanks
◦ Male:Female – 2:1
◦ Only Females with oocytes in the late-vitellogenic
stage (diameter larger than 650 micrometers)
selected
Cages
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Made of steel 4-10m²
Nets suspended 68m deep
Some anchored on
land others in open
waters
Frequent net
changes (15-20 days)
Weekly cleaning to
remove foul
organisms
Done by divers
Water Quality

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pH – between 6-8
Temperature – 2022 degrees Celsius
Salinity – 27- 29
g/L
DO – 7.5 ppm
High rates of algae
Economic Importance

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Overfishing is a large
concern and
aquaculture of this
species has been
deemed sustainable
Market price in U.S.
$6.99 lb
Annual Production
60,000 tons
Turkey, Croatia,
Spain, Italy, Greece
Advantages
Disadvantages
Very hardy fish
 Cutting back on
Overfishing
 Easily marketed
 Could be inexpensive
if lagoon
aquacultured


Long to mature
 Very competitive
market
 Low filet yield
 Carnivorous
 No synthetic larval
feed