Event Abstract Back to Event Effect of environmental conditions and management strategies in commercial aquaculture systems on juvenile milkfish (Chanos chanos) quantified by scale cortisol Inken Hanke1, 2*, Bart Ampe3, 4, Andreas Kunzmann1, Astrid Gärdes1 and Johan Aerts2, 3 1 Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (LG), Germany 2 Ghent University, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Belgium 3 Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Belgium 4 Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Animal Sciences Unit, Belgium The global intensification of commercial aquaculture production has become an increasing threat for the performance and growth of cultured fish. Besides suboptimal management strategies, such as high stocking densities, fish have to cope with changing environmental conditions, as commonly encountered in outdoor systems. In a previous experimental study, we observed a significant increase in stress response mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal (HPI) axis and quantified by ontogenetic and regenerated scale cortisol, when exposing juvenile milkfish to a single stimulus of minute and gradual temperature increase (manuscript currently under review). In this study, we evaluated for the first time the stress response of juvenile milkfish in a commercial aquaculture setting by using ontogenetic scale cortisol. Fish were collected from four different cages, from the beginning of the mariculture park, nearby channel inlet to the open ocean (F1, F2), along the Guiguiwanen Channel in mid (F3) and the end region (F4) of the mariculture park in Bolinao (Philippines). Ontogenetic scales of 6 fish per cage/sampling point were analyzed for cortisol and environmental conditions were monitored after 86 (D86) and 100 days (D100) of culture time. For all stations, scale cortisol was significantly higher at D100. Hereby, significant differences in scale cortisol levels were observed between stations per sampling as well as in daily incorporation of scale cortisol. Highest scale cortisol levels were recorded at F4, where fish were kept at the highest stock density. On the other hand, fish from F1 exhibited the highest rate of daily incorporated scale cortisol. Subsequently, when taking into account the existing culture conditions, scale cortisol levels showed that management strategy as well as location of the cage in the mariculture park/along the channel had a significant effect on the stress level of fish. This is to our knowledge the first study on chronic stress in milkfish. Hereby, the use of scale cortisol was shown to be effective, making it a powerful tool in optimizing aquaculture systems as well as in monitoring gradual climate changes in wild stock. Keywords: Scale cortisol, stress response, Aquaculture, temperature, Milkfish Conference: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018, Peniche, Portugal, 5 Jul - 6 Jul, 2018. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Aquaculture Citation: Hanke I, Ampe B, Kunzmann A, Gärdes A and Aerts J (2019). Effect of environmental conditions and management strategies in commercial aquaculture systems on juvenile milkfish (Chanos chanos) quantified by scale cortisol. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2018.06.00081 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 23 Apr 2018; Published Online: 07 Jan 2019. * Correspondence: Ms. Inken Hanke, Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (LG), Bremen, Germany, Inken.Hanke@leibniz-zmt.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Inken Hanke Bart Ampe Andreas Kunzmann Astrid Gärdes Johan Aerts Google Inken Hanke Bart Ampe Andreas Kunzmann Astrid Gärdes Johan Aerts Google Scholar Inken Hanke Bart Ampe Andreas Kunzmann Astrid Gärdes Johan Aerts PubMed Inken Hanke Bart Ampe Andreas Kunzmann Astrid Gärdes Johan Aerts Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.