The life of Brian
How did you get into aquaculture?
It was a purely accidental path. Back in 1969, I’d been attracted to bacteriology because at that time bacteria were thought to all be plants, they were pretty and were nice to work with. Therefore, I went to Newcastle University to study bacteriology. I followed this up with a PhD on the microbiology of plants. From there I went to do a post-doc at the University of Maryland which included researching disease problems in lobsters in NE US. I retuned to the UK to study bacteria at the fish diseases lab in Weymouth for 6 years, then moved to Heriot-Watt University for the next 25 years, before being appointed as the institute’s director, 6 years ago.
Where’s the British aquaculture industry going?
In 1978, when I returned to the UK, the big player was rainbow trout production in England; only about 100 tonnes of salmon were being produced in Scotland at the time. Now it’s 170,000 tonnes in Scotland and government is aiming to increase this by 50% by 2020, while the industry in England has largely stagnated, although there is still some success with people growing other species, including ornamental fish.
There’s no doubt that there will be a continued increase in salmon production, and it’s important to recognise the high value end product – smoked salmon. I think we’ll see the shellfish industry expanding too, while I very much hope that a sea trout industry will develop, especially in south west Scotland.
I’d also like to see cod (and haddock in Scotland?) making a comeback – while there’s plenty of wild-caught cod to the north, it would be good to ensure supply on our own doorstep.
I think there’s also a possibility of developing tilapia for a niche market – housewives of Asian descent and the restaurant trade for example. Maybe, we will see developments in central Scotland, around Stirling.
What do see as the key areas of aquaculture research?
Firstly nutrition, due to the limited supply of trash fish, efforts are required to address this. We’ve already seen an escalation in the replacement of fish-based with plant-based ingredients and I am looking forward to seeing an expansion in the use of plant oils [with the characteristics of fish oils that may be derived from GMO plants].
Secondly health – it’s an ongoing issue and we’re currently in the era of parasites, but viruses are not far behind and bacteria are returning in importance.
We’re going to be moving towards preventative measures – probiotics, vaccines and immunostimulants. Functional feeds are also increasingly popular, especially in the artesanal fish farms in Asia, where certain medicinal plants are being used in feeds.
However, while probiotics are commonly used in China, and are gaining ground in the US they’re still not given as much credibility in Europe. Nevertheless, many feeds feeds contain immunostimulants such as beta glucans, and these are used extensively in Europe and elsewhere..
How much of an impact have you made at the IoA?
I arrived at a time of contraction, as the Institute was running at a deficit. We weathered Voluntary Severance and Compulsory Redundancies.
Now, however, it’s growing and has larger numbers of both staff and postgrad and undergrad students. We have taken over the running of the University’s undergrad Marine Biology degree, which is gaining popularity.
Marine biotechnology and aquatic food security have developed, and we have recruited , and we have attracted a world ranking immunologist and virologist onto the staff.
Any recommendations for your successor?
I’m going to tell them that it’s essential to interact with the University – when I arrived I thought the institute was too insular, they didn’t know us.
It’s also important to interact with the Scottish Government and to get on ministerial committees. Get yourself known, in order to help inform government strategies and policies.
And recommendations for aquaculture students?
Work hard and regard aquaculture as a dynamic industry with great potential for the future.
You also need to be prepared to fly the nest – there are particularly good opportunities overseas, especially in Asia, Africa and South America.
In Brazil, for example, it’s a huge growth area and there’s lots of exciting work going on with indigenous species, which are still relatively unknown outside the country. It’s a completely different approach to somewhere like Chile, where they imported non-native species and farmed them over intensively.
Some of the European-based companies – like Marine Harvest – also have a global presence, if you join them you may be able to see the world.
What area of work do you see as your proudest legacy?
The work I’ve done with probiotics [live micro-organisms delivered orally and leading to health benefits] has given me the most satisfaction. It all started by accident when I bumped into some of my former students in Ecuador, where they were managing shrimp farms.
Over a beer or two they mentioned the impact that probiotics were having on their shrimp and I brought a sample back.
It had been thought that these organisms worked by competitive exclusion but they actually work by stimulating an immune response and they also seem to taste good and help stimulate the appetite of the fish, therefore increasing their growth rates and well as boosting their health status – lessening problems such as fin rot and the effects of pathogens.
They’re not yet widely used in the EU. The industry needs to keep its eyes open to possibilities, including vaccines - there are currently only a small number out there – probiotics, prebiotics, medicinal plant products and immunostimulants. In terms of probiotics, this is an area of disease control that the industry should be interested in because there is evidence of success against a wide range of bacterial pathogens and parasites, and there is the positive effect on growth performance.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m currently editing a book on diagnostic control of fish and shellfish, I’ll be editing for Elsevier, I’m still President of the Bergey’s Bacterial Taxonomy Society, and I am planning some work with former students in China, so will be keeping fairly busy!
