A Survey and Resource Materials on the Use of Oxygen Supplementation in Fish Culture.

Abstract

Oxygen supplementation is the process by which naturally occurring dissolved oxygen (DO) is supplemented with enriched oxygen to restore or enhance DO levels in water. In aquaculture this is usually done with relatively pure oxygen and the result has significant potential to improve fish health, aid hatchery economic considerations, or both. For example, oxygen supplementation can preclude both hypoxia and gas bubble disease, as well as allow more fish to be reared in the same space or water or both. However, the concepts and technology in oxygen supplementation are evolving rapidly and direct communication with the user groups would foster technology transfer and improve implementation. Therefore we undertook and now report a survey of organizations that either currently use or plan to use oxygen supplementation. Additionally we included various pertinent material, including literature sources, lists of consultants and equipment manufacturers and some current research in oxygen supplementation.