Transportation stress in fish

1. WEST BENGAL UNIVERSITY OF ANIMAL AND
FISHERY SCIENCES
COURSE NO – AAH-312
A Seminar on…
TRANSPORTATION STRESS AND IT’S MITIGATION
MEASURES
Submitted to –
Prof. Gadadhar Dash,
Dept of AAH
Submitted by –
Sandipan Das
F/2015/28
3rd year 1st sem

2. WHAT IS STRESS ?
Stress is defined as a condition in which the dynamic
equilibrium of animal organisms called homeostasis
is threatened or disturbed as a result of actions of
intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli, commonly defined as
stressors.

3. TYPES OF STRESS
Chemical stress- water chemistry,
pollution, etc.
Physical stress- temp. ,light, sound, dissolve
gases,etc.
Procedural stress-handling, stocking,
feeding habit, disease treatment,etc.
Biological stress- micro-organisms,
population density, etc

4. Stages of Stress:
Primary response or initial alarm
The secondary rseponse or stage of resistance
Tertiary response or the fish reach the final stage of exhaustion

5. Reasons behind the stress:
 The main reasons behind the stress during
Transportation are the followings:
 Handling
Crowding
Temperature
Water quality

6. Handling:
Transportation and handling procedures consists of several potential
stressors, such as capture, on-loading , transport, unloading , etc.
Crowding:
This type of stress is occur with high stocking density. Short term
crowding stress occurs commonly in aquaculture practices.
Temperature:
Thermal stress occurs when the water temperature exceeds the optimal
temperature range. Most fish can gradually acclimate to narmal
temperature changes but rapid changes in temperature, as may happen
under fish loading and transportation , may result in thermal stresses .
Water Quality:
Temperature, dissolved oxygen, ammonia , nitrite, nitrate , salinity , pH
, carbon dioxide, alkalinity and hardness in relation to aluminium and
iron are the most common water quality parameters affecting
physiological stress.

7. Consequences of stress during transportation in fish:
Biological changes due to stress in Transported Fish:
When fish were transported at higher densities , the
levels of corticoids and glucose in the plasma increased
and were retained when the transport was finished.
More amount of energy to reduce the stress.
 Respiration rate
 Blood pressure
 Heartbeat
Physiological changes:
Fishes are suspected to various physiological changes
such as gill chocking, damage of fin and screen peoblms
including hematology , osmoregulation , hormone release
,and energetic metabolism.

8. Basic consideration for stress during
transportation:
• Quality of Fish: The fish to be transported must be
healthy and in good condition.
• Density of Transported Fish:
As to fry, the ratio of the volume of the fish
transported and the transport water should not exceed
1:3. Heavier individuals , e.g., parent fish can be
transported in fish: water weight ratio of 1:2 to 1:3.

9. Mitigation measures:
Water treatment:
It is critical to treat the water during a closed
transport. It is also important to gain optimal
water quality before closing . Equipment for
treating water may include oxygenation, water
cooling, degasing of CO2 and protein skimming.
Keeping sufficient optimum pH is way to avoid
ammonia toxicity.

10. Starvation before transportation:
The fish to be transported, except for the larval stages
should be left to starve for at least a day .
If the fish with full digestive tracts also need more
oxygen, are more susceptible to stress, and produce
excrements which take up much of the oxygen of the
water.
 Starvation redeces negative impact from uneaten
feed, fish metabolism and faeces on water quality,
and also reduces population fight and stress, as well
as improves performance after transfer.

11. Anaesthetic agents added to the water at low doses may also be
used to sedate fish before to transport. This reduces metabolic
rate and hence oxygen demand, reduce general activity, increase
ease of handling and mitigate the stress response.
Sedation
Commonly used some anaesthetics:
 Tricaine methane- General ------75-200 mg/l
sulfonate(MS-222)
 METOMIDATE - General ---------5-10 mg/l
Freshwater tropical fish------0.8-1 mg/l
KETAMINE -General ----------66-88 mg/kg

12. Commonly used other chemicals and their
doses :
Methylene blue - 2 ppm
Acriflavin - 10 ppm
Chloromycetin - 8-10 ppm
Copper sulphate - 0.5 ppm
Sodium chloride - 3%
Potassium permanganate - 3 ppm
QUINALDINE SULFATE - General ----------50-100
mg/l
 BENZOCAINE- General ---- 25-200 mg/l
Catfish -------100 mg/l

14. Conclusion:
At the last of this seminar it can be conclude
that fishes need proper handling with care
and good acclimatization to the new
environment during transportation for less
mortality and less suffering from stressors.

15. REFERENCES:
www.Google.com
www.wikipidea.com
www.fishchannel.com
Stress diagnosis in fish (Manas Kr. Das)(central
inland capture fisheris research institude)
 www.fao.org