Aquaculture

It is expected that molecular hydrogen and oxygen supplementation could completely revolutionise the aquaculture industry, leading to a significant boost in the total food protein availability worldwide. Applications can be used with fresh water, sea water, open ponds, enclosed systems, natural based systems, hatcheries, holding facilities, fishing vessels and holding tanks, export and transport, aquariums and marketplaces, and the list goes on.

The oxidative susceptibility of aqua-based protein is far greater than land-based sources and as a result, there is less tolerance for error throughout all farming phases, from hatchery to plate. There are huge benefits at the hatchery stage where mortality rates can be significantly reduced, giving fingerlings a far greater start in life and an increased baseline strength when transported to the grow out facility.

Oxygen infusion into water technologies have come a long way in recent years and with it the understanding of the complementary importance that molecular hydrogen plays in biology. These two ingredients determine the environment that an organism can live in as well as the concentration of life it can support. Greater oxygen concentrations within aquaculture may be achievable without the associated toxicity for example, when combined with the anti-oxidant potential that molecular hydrogen represents.

Enriching an environment towards a bias that favours a particular organism living in it is the key to maximising the health, growth rates and yield potential at harvest. This in theory then suggests that increasing aerobic favour of an environment, can naturally toxify the preference of an anaerobic organism’s preference. This can then allow for a reduction of unfavourable control measures now adopted as standard throughout the industry.

Increasing efficiencies of metabolic function, energy creation and oxidative reduction, can all be fine-tuned in a closed aquaculture system and can also significantly reduce the damaging effects of adverse events as they unexpectedly occur. This then furthers to increased growth rates, less disease, lowered chemical and pharmaceutical intervention and increased stocking densities.

All of this leads to less stressed stock, stronger biological baselines which travels and ships better post-harvest, all of which commands a better price at market and a higher quality product for the consumer. It makes good commercial practice sense to improve not only the efficiencies of production but also improve the quality of the product while reducing the cost and use of unfavourable supplementation practices.

Molecular hydrogen and oxygen are vitally important components of life even at a single cell level in biology. When the environment is right for life to be supported and grow without hindrance, it is then just a matter of concentration. A greater availability will mean a greater capability.

Keeping the oxygen content up in aquaculture is paramount to enabling a harvest and to keep anaerobic challenges and disease under control. Improved technologies are now available and an evolutionary step is imminent with improvements expected across the entire industry.

From small live deck tubs, to research vessels, to mother ships and live at sea grow out vessels, holding time, stocking densities, stress levels and healing events are all observations and improvements possible when implementing hydrogen and oxygen gas infusion technologies into the equation.

The live seafood transport and export industry is enormous due to the rapid deterioration and oxidative nature of marine protein sources. Eliminating stress wherever possible and enhancing the aerobic environment of the animals before, during, and after transport, significantly affects the quality of the product at sale. Huge price margins can be seen, and these margins determine profit and loss so much that they will determine the financial viability of the business.

The opportunities that molecular hydrogen and oxygen supplementation offer is creating quite a stir in the aqua and agri-tech spaces with even more benefits expected in the very near future. Scientific institutions and research facilities are encouraged to extend their fields of interest into this exciting future as its potential may address many of the pressing challenges currently facing food production capacity around the world.

Ultimately, it is the best product that will command the best price. As high quality produce becomes harder to find, these prices will only go up and as contaminated food sources are exposed more often, customers will demand better throughout the entire process.