At the beginning of this year, we planned to make some improvements in our aquaculture facility. One of these was to enhance the nutritional intake of the fish, to encourage optimal health of the marine species for our breeding program. Marine Aquarium fish are valued and admired based on their colours and patterns and improved health helps to make fish look more beautiful. We aim to have a breeding program with broodstocks that produce an optimal number of viable eggs and healthy offsprings. Currently, our cultured clownfish have a “bleache” light pale orange colour, which makes them less attractive than their wild-caught counterparts. In addition, many broodstocks have a low frequency in the numbers of eggs laid, or the eggs turn out to be unviable and dod not hatch. These problems may be caused by a lack of essential nutritents, (such as phosphate and vitamins) in the feed we give to our clownfish. In early August, we started trials, where we varied the different kinds of feed given to the baby clownfish. Our intern, Wayan helped us by testing the effect of giving enriched Artemia shrimps (given additional food and supplements) on the growth rates of the young clownfish, and the sharpness and brightness of their colours and patterns. He designed a mini research project to enrich the shrimp (Artemia) with Spirulina, cod oil and a combination of Spirulina – cod oil. The objective of the experiment was to identify which enriched diet produced the growth rates and colouration. In aquaculture industry, the food can cost up to 60% of operational budget, therefore, the effectiveness of the feed in producing healthy organisms is central to the success of the business, both in terms of finance and quality products.
Wayan helping in the aquarium making process (left) and Wayan working on the feed trials (photos: Made Partiana)
We would like to continue the research, which aims to discover the most effective combination of nutrients that produce the best enrichment of Artemia shrimp for feeding to the baby fish. We would like to encourage Indonesian students who are interested in taking part in this research for their thesis in their final year at University. Would anyone who would like to join in this work please send an email to info@lini.or.id we will then provide further details regarding the research schedule and requirements.
It is nearly a decade since we started helping the community of Les village in North Bali to restore their damaged reefs. Since January this year, we are offering opportunity for Indonesian students to conduct research on our reef restoration site in front of the LATC. To date, we have had two students who conducted their research at this site for their undergraduate thesis. They are Ali from Jakarta and Chevien from Purwokerto, Central Java. Both of them are now writing their thesis on coral growth and mortality on the artificial structures. Iqbal from Jendral Soedirman University – Purwokerto, is currently looking at fish biomass on different types of artificial reef structures.
From left to right, Ali – Chevien – Iqbal were collecting data for their thesis (photos: Yunaldi)
Our reef restoration program has also attracted much interest from international students. In July 2019, two students from Sussex University in UK, came to volunteer and learn in our reef restoration monitoring program. The students were Aimee, who learned to identify the coral species that colonized the artificial reef structures, while Tash was learning to observe fish biomass in the Fish Dome clusters.Both National and International students were provided with guidance from our experts, and they also learned to scuba dive for scientific purposes, and about safety diving. The students have had the opportunities to meet and network with our partners during their stay with us.
Group foto with our visitors in July 2019, Richard Vevers from the Ocean Agency, Mika Peck and Alice Elridge from Sussex University – UK, and students from UK and Indonesia (photo: Wayan)Aimee (left) and Tash (right) were learning how to collect data in our reef restoration site (photos: Mika Peck and Eveline)
We encourage students to contact LINI if they are interested in our program, because they will not only learn about reef conservation, but also connect with various stakeholders who come to our Centre. We believe that every little effort we make to find solutions to help to preserve the marine ecosystem requires strong connections among all the people involved.
