TRANSPORTATION STRESS AND IT’S MITIGATION MEASURES

1. WEST BENGAL UNIVERSITY OF
ANIMAL AND FISHERY SCIENCES
COURSE NO – AAH-312
A Seminar on…
TRANSPORTATION STRESS AND
IT’S MITIGATION MEASURES
Submitted to –
Prof. Gadadhar Dash,
Dept of AAH
Submitted by –
Sandipan Das
F/2015/28
3rd year 1st sem

2. WHAT IS STRESS ?
Stress is defined as a condition in which the
dynamic equilibrium of animal organisms called
homeostasis is threatened or disturbed as a
result of actions of intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli,
commonly defined as stressors.

3. TYPES OF STRESS
Chemical stress- Water quality,
Pollutants, Metabolic wastes etc.
Physical stress- temp. ,light, sound,
dissolve gases,etc.
Procedural stress-handling, stocking,
feeding habit, transportation etc.
Biological stress- micro-organisms,
population density, diet composition etc.

4. Stages of Stress:
Primary response or initial alarm (increase in hormone
levels).
The secondary response or stage of
resistance(changes in immune function).
Tertiary response or the fish reach the final stage of
Exhaustion(changes in growth, respiration, resistance)

5. Reasons behind the stress:
 The main reasons behind the stress during
Transportation are the followings:
 Handling
Crowding
Temperature
Water quality

6. Handling:
Transportation and handling procedures
consists of several potential stressors, such
as capture, on-loading , transport, unloading ,
etc.
Crowding:
This type of stress is occur with high stocking
density. Short term crowding stress occurs
commonly in aquaculture practices.

7. Temperature:(Thermal stress)
Thermal stress occurs when the water temperature exceeds the
optimal temperature range. Most fish can gradually acclimate to
normal temperature changes but rapid changes in temperature, as may
happen under fish loading and transportation , may result in thermal
stresses
Water Quality:
Temperature, dissolved oxygen, ammonia , nitrite, nitrate , salinity
, pH , carbon dioxide, alkalinity and hardness in relation to
aluminum and iron are the most common water quality parameters
affecting physiological stress.

8. Consequences of stress during transportation in fish:
Biological changes:
When fish were transported at higher densities , the
levels of corticoids and glucose in the plasma is increased
and were retained when the transport was finished.
More amount of energy to reduce the stress.
 Respiration rate
 Blood pressure
 Heartbeat
Physiological changes:
Fishes are suspected to various physiological changes
such as gill chocking, damage of fin and skin problems
including hematology , osmoregulation , hormone release
and energetic metabolism.

9. Basic consideration for stress during
transportation:
 Quality of Fish:
The fish to be transported must be healthy
and in good condition.
Density of Transported Fish:
As to fry, the ratio of the volume of the fish
transported and the transport water should not
exceed 1:3.
 The volume of the fish : water weight ratio is
1:2 to 1:3.

10. Mitigation measures of the
transportation stress:
It is critical to treat the water during a closed
transport. It is also important to gain optimal
water quality before closing . Equipment for
treating water may include oxygenation, water
cooling, degassing of CO2 and protein skimming.
Keeping sufficient optimum pH is way to avoid
ammonia toxicity.

11. Anaesthetic agents added to the water at low doses
may also be used to sedate fish before to transport.
This reduces metabolic rate and hence oxygen
demand, reduce general activity, increase ease of
handling and mitigate the stress response.
Sedation:
Commonly used some anaesthetics:
 Tricaine methane _ General ------75-200 mg/l
sulfonate(MS-222)
 METOMIDATE - General ---------5-10 mg/l
Freshwater tropical fish------0.8-1 mg/l
 KETAMINE -General ----------66-88 mg/kg

12. Commonly used other chemicals and their
doses :
Methylene blue - 2 ppm
Acriflavin - 10 ppm
Chloromycetin - 8-10 ppm
Copper sulphate - 0.5 ppm
Sodium chloride - 3%
Potassium permanganate - 3 ppm
 QUINALDINE SULFATE - General ----------50-100
mg/l
 BENZOCAINE- General ---- 25-200 mg/l
Catfish -------100 mg/l

14. Conclusion:
At the last of this seminar it can be conclude
that fishes need proper handling with care
and good acclimatization to the new
environment during transportation for less
mortality and less suffering from stressors.

15. REFERENCES:
www.Google.com
www.wikipidea.com
www.fishchannel.com
Stress diagnosis in fish (Manas
Kr. Das)(central inland capture
fisheris research institude)
 www.fao.org