Presentation by Charles Tyler on 'Sustainable Aquaculture Future (SAF) Aquaculture Projects in Bangladesh: Focus on the Environment' at the One Health Approach workshop on Tuesday, 23 March 2021.

1. SAF Aquaculture Projects in Bangladesh
Focus: Environment
Professor Charles R. Tyler

2. Team:
Kelly Thornber
Hazel Knipe
Charles Tyler
Steve Hinchliffe
Lisa Bickley
Sanjit Debnath Dominique
Chaput Jamie McMurtrie
Ben Temperton

3. Aquaculture Projects in Bangladesh
• BBSRC- Newton Fund Global Research Partnership in Aquaculture (Cefas). Prediction and mitigation of
diseases outbreaks in aquaculture through large scale community engagement
• Daphne Jackson Fellowship BBSRC - Kelly Thornber. Establishing factors that influence the spread of
antimicrobial resistance in Asian aquaculture
• ESRC - Production without medicalisation: a pilot intervention in global protein production.
• GCRF Initiator Fund – Antimicrobial resistance in Aquaculture
• GRTA Project -Promoting prudent pharmaceutical usage in Bangladesh aquaculture
• Exeter/Cefas –PhD - Probiotic treatments in shrimp aquaculture pond systems: kill or cure?
• BBSRC/Cefs/WF- PhD-Antibiotic exposure impacts on skin microbiomes and disease resilience in fish in
aquaculture
• Exeter/Cefas/WF – PhD- Fish skin microbiomes in disease and health in fish in aquaculture
• Defra – Overseas Development Aid - Aquatic Food Security development in Bangladesh

4. ODA –Project
Aquaculture and the Environment in Bangladesh
Spatial footprint, Freshwater resources, Water
Quality, Energy, Biodiversity and Natural Capital.

5. Identifying chemical effect mechanisms
Images – Charles R. Tyler
Mourabit, etv al.,. (2019). Environment International 133 (Pt A):105138.
doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105138.
Oestrogens
Oxidative Stress
elavl3:GCaMP6s larvae
Winter et al., (2017). Scientific Reports. DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-06646-6
Seeing into a working brain
Lee, et al.(2012). Env Health Perspect 120(7):990-6

6. Freshwater – A Precious Resource
• 54% of all accessible freshwater is used
• Most by industry/agriculture,
• The biggest threat to freshwater globally is pollution
• Many people worldwide do not have access to clean
freshwater.
• Major freshwater Biodiversity crisis
• Climate Change uncertainties
• Most with no effective treatments of wastes
• Much of inland withdrawn water could be reused
Bangladesh 68% of Aquaculture occurs in Freshwater
Over 4.3 million households operate culture ponds and ghers -600 000 ha, 2M+ tonnes
Freshwater Aquaculture in Bangladesh
Aquaculture
Water Quality Defines:
• What can be cultured where
• Levels of productivity
• Safety of the crop
Closed water (culture) fisheries
production (Source: FRSS, 2015)
from Shamsuzzaman et al., 2017
In Bangladesh 80% of fish come form wild and capture freshwater fisheries
260 different species of freshwater fish in Bangladesh

7. Health of the Environment
Overall Aim: Employ novel molecular biology techniques to reduce the impact of major diseases in aquaculture for the.
improvement of profitability of small-scale farmers.
http://www.adaproject.org.uk/
Pond microbiomes and associated conditions that drive disease outbreaks in aquaculture…
Fish gut
Fish tissue
Fish skin
Water
Sediment
X Pathogen
X
X
X
X
X
X
Bass, et al., (2019).
TREE 30(11): 996-1008
eDNA – amplicon and metagenome sequencing
Pond physicochemitsry
TiLv
Skills transfer

8. Shrimp ghers/ponds
Clear temporal pattern in the bacterial community richness (i.e. the
number of different 16S rRNA sequences in a fixed total number per
sample, in this case 13466 sequences per sample)
16S rRNA - prokaryotes
Chaput et al., unpublished data
SA
0
100
Sampling month
Relative
abundance
(%)
Bacterial phylum
Actinobacteria
Bacteroidetes
Chloroflexi
Cyanobacteria
Firmicutes
Planctomycetes
Proteobacteria
Verrucomicrobia
Batiaghata
(extensive)
Rampal
(extensive)
Shyamnagar
(extensive)
S.M.Shrimp
(semi-intens.)
50
0
100
50
0
100
50
SB
SC
May
17
Jun
17
Jul
17
Aug
17
Sep
17
Oct
17
Nov
17
Dec
17
Mar
18
Apr
18
May
18
SD
SE
SF
SG
SI
SJ
SH
May
17
Jun
17
Jul
17
Aug
17
Sep
17
Oct
17
Nov
17
Dec
17
Mar
18
Apr
18
May
18
May
17
Jun
17
Jul
17
Aug
17
Sep
17
Oct
17
Nov
17
Dec
17
Mar
18
Apr
18
May
18
May
17
Jun
17
Jul
17
Aug
17
Sep
17
Oct
17
Nov
17
Dec
17
Mar
18
Apr
18
May
18
x x x x
x x x x
x
x x
x
x x x x x x
x x x x
x x x x
x Diseasereported
o Noshrimpinpond
oo oo
oo ooo
oo ooo
oo ooo
oo
oo
o
o
o
ooo
Strong temporal and geographical patterns
200
400
600
800
1000
May17
Jun17
Jul17
Aug17
Sep17
Oct17
Nov17
Dec17
Mar18
Apr18
May18
Jun18
Jul18
Aug18
Number
of
unique
sequences
per
5000
Region
Batiaghata
Rampal
Shyamnagar
S.M.Shrimp.culture
Understanding how microbiomes in finfish and shrimp ponds relate to health (for disease avoidance)
Bacterial community richness
Health of the Environment
Bacterial phyla

9. 16S rRNA - prokaryotes
Chaput et al., unpublished data
Features of the water chemistry drive changes in the pond microbiome
Batiaghata Rampal S.M.Shrimp.culture
Shyamnagar
−40
0
40
80 −40
0
40
80 −40
0
40
80 −40
0
40
80
18.Aug18
17.Jul18
16.Jun18
15.May18
14.Apr18
13.Mar18
12.Dec17
11.Nov17
10.Oct17
09.Sep17
08.Aug17
07.Jul17
06.Jun17
05.May17
16S V4 PC1, axis reversed for comparison
Batiaghata Rampal S.M.Shrimp.culture
Shyamnagar
−60
−30
0
30
60 −60
−30
0
30
60 −60
−30
0
30
60 −60
−30
0
30
60
18.Aug18
17.Jul18
16.Jun18
15.May18
14.Apr18
13.Mar18
12.Dec17
11.Nov17
10.Oct17
09.Sep17
08.Aug17
07.Jul17
06.Jun17
05.May17
18S PC1, axis reversed for comparison
Batiaghata Rampal S.M.Shrimp.culture
Shyamnagar
0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15
18.Aug18
17.Jul18
16.Jun18
15.May18
14.Apr18
13.Mar18
12.Dec17
11.Nov17
10.Oct17
09.Sep17
08.Aug17
07.Jul17
06.Jun17
05.May17
Salinity (ppt)
Bacteria / Archaea Eukaryotes
Shifts in bacteria/archaea and eukaryote communities mirror the annual changes in salinity.
Salinity
Shifts in bact/arch and euk
communities mirror the annual
changes in DO2 (less by pH
changes, or turbidity)
Shrimp ghers/ponds
BBSRC/Cefas/WF/Exeter PhDs -
• Antibiotic exposure impacts on skin microbiomes and disease
resilience in fish in aquaculture
• Fish skin microbiomes in disease and health in fish in aquaculture
Skin and Gill microbial assemblages in finfish in health and disease and affects of antibiotics
MinION
Health of the Environment

10. Chaput et al., unpublished data
Pond physicochemistry challenges the physiology of cultured organism health
Remote sensing
pH can have a major bearing
on contaminant uptake
Pinheiro, et al.,(2021). Biological
Reviews In Press.
Health of the Environment

11. Chemicals, antibiotics and AMR
Estimated global use of antibiotics for selected finfish culture is 100 000s tonnes
Average amount of antibiotics used per year per shrimp hatchery: 108kg (20 hatcheries surveyed).
Antibiotic alternatives such as probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics
Antibiotic use and AMR in shrimp ponds and hatcheries
Thornber et al., unpublished data
AMR genes classes within ponds over time
Thornber, et al., Reviews in Aquaculture 1-21 doi: 10.1111/raq.12367
AMR genes found in tanks
conferred resistance to critically
important or highly important
antimicrobials (WHO classification)
Antibiotic use and AMR in fish ponds
Health of the Environment

12. Communication- with farmers
The People Environment
Using effective communication tools - Android-based applications
302 finfish ponds across 73 locations through Mobile Application
Heal, et al., 2021. Aquaculture. In review
accessible information leaflets
Hinchliffe, et al., . Geographical Journal DOI: 10.1111/geoj.12371
Understand the relationships between hatchery operating
procedures and farm characteristics, production and disease
management strategies.

13. Social media campaign (in 2 weeks):
• Facebook (Bangladesh): 20,000 reach
• Twitter (Global): 105,000 impressions
Communication- the wider public
The People Environment
Animation on AMR
Reducing unnecessary antibiotic usage in Bangladesh aquaculture,
https://youtu.be/T6jaRJq9qto
Raising Awareness
Understanding sales and usage
Understanding stakeholder
needs, wants and
relationships
Use of Pharmaceuticals
www.exeter.ac.uk/research/saf

14. 1. Kelly Thornber, David Verner-Jeffreys, Steve Hinchliffe, Muhammad Meezanur Rahman, David Bass, and Charles R, Tyler (2019). Evaluating
antimicrobial resistance in the global shrimp industry. Reviews in Aquaculture 1-21 doi: 10.1111/raq.12367
2. Bass, D., Stentiford, G.D., Wangs, H-C, Koskella, B., Tyler, C.R (2019). The Pathobiome in Animals and Plant Diseases. Trends in Ecology
and Evolution. 30(11): 996-1008
3. Hazel Knipe, Ben Temperton, Anke Lange, David Bass, Charles R. Tyler (2020). Probiotics and competitive exclusion of pathogens in
shrimp aquaculture. Reviews in Aquaculture doi: 10.1111/raq.12477
4. Kelly Thornber, Doina Huso, Muhammad Meezanur Rahman, Himangsu Biswas, Mohammad Habibur Rahman, Eric Brum and Charles R
Tyler (2020). Raising awareness of antimicrobial resistance in rural aquaculture practice in Bangladesh through digital communications: a pilot
study. Global Health Action Volume 12: https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2020.1734735
5. Chaput, D.L., Bass, D., Alam, M.M., Hasan, N. Al, Stentiford, G.D., Aerle, R. van, Moore, K., Bignell, J.P., Haque, M.M., Tyler, C.R., 2020.
The Segment Matters: Probable Reassortment of Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV) Complicates Phylogenetic Analysis and Inference of Geographical
Origin of New Isolate from Bangladesh. Viruses 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/v12030258.
6.Stentiford, G.D., Bateman, I.J., Hinchliffe, S.J., Bass, D., Hartnell, R., Santos, E.M., Devlin, M.J., Feist, S.W., Taylor, N.G.H., Verner-Jeffreys,
D.W., van Aerle, R., Peeler, E.J., Higman, W.A., Smith, L., Baines, R., Behringer, D.C., Katsiadaki, I., Froehlich, H.E., Tyler, C.R., 2020.
Sustainable aquaculture through the One Health lens. Nature Food 1, 468–474. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-0127-5.
7. Hinchliffe SJ, Butcher A, Rahman MM (2018). The AMR problem: demanding economies, biological margins, and co-producing alternative
strategies. PalgraveCommunications, 4
8.Steve Hinchliffe, Andrea Butcher, Muhammad Meezanur Rahman, Guilder James, Charles R. Tyler, David Verner-Jeffreys (2020). Production
without medicalisation – socio-economic drivers of disease and antimicrobial uses in aquaculture. Geographical Journal DOI:
10.1111/geoj.12371.
9. Richard Heal, M Mahfujul Haque, Joseph Nagoli, Syed Arifuzzaman, Charles R. Tyler* and David Bass*(2021). Understanding the economic
and farming practices driving species selection in aquaculture within the Mymensingh division of Bangladesh. Aquaculture. In review
Research Papers

15. Thank you
Looking forward to the next steps in this partnership