Application of microalgae biotechnology for the sustainable development of aquaculture

Abstract

Microalgae biotechnology has emerged into the limelight to solve the problems in traditional aquaculture. In this chapter, based on the discussion of some severe problems that jeopardize aquaculture's sustainable development, we proposed using microalgae to partly replace fish diet, protect the water environment of the aquaculture system, and treat aquaculture effluent. Previous studies, which focused on either fundamental research or applied research of microalgae biotechnology, were summarized in this chapter. To our knowledge, it has been fully confirmed that microalgae could effectively reduce the total cost of fish diet, increase the nutritional value of fish diet, modify the bacterial community profile, prevent the water deterioration in the aquaculture system, and recover nutrients from aquaculture effluent. Therefore, it is a promising way to apply microalgae biotechnology to support the eco-friendly aquaculture. However, it should be noted that microalgae-assisted aquaculture still has some technical problems, such as nutrients deficiency in the effluent, high cost of biomass production and harvesting, poor water quality for reuse, low rate of nutrient recovery, pathogenic contamination, and so on. In this chapter, some potential solutions to the aforementioned problems are discussed. We believe that this chapter will attract readers' attention to microalgae-assisted aquaculture in the foreseeable future.