Cherry Shrimp & Vorticella

The current fishing industry is valued at approximately $11.5 billion (Statista Research Departmen, 2022) and produces over 170 million tons of fish annually. More then 3 billion people globally utilize fish as a primary source of protein, with every person consuming approximately 19.2kg of fish a year (World Wildlife Fund [WWF], 2022). Fish consumption rates have doubled in the last 50 years, making the fishing industry worth over $362 billion (WWF, 2019, 2022, in press).

However, consumption on this scale lends itself to competition as demand increases. Therefore, companies must find methods to catch the upmost amount of fish, to serve enough people, and ensure a profit. To clarify, as the demand for fish increases, as does exploitation and degradation of the environment due to industry competition.

Currently, ⅓ of commercial fish is being collected at unsustainable levels, and 60% of fish stocks are fully fished globally (Woody, 2021; WWF, 2019). While catching fish is not inherently destructive to ecosystems, fishing fleets are catching seafood faster than the ecosystem can replenish stocks in order to satisfy global demand (WWF, 2022).

However, during the mid 1980s, the "Blue Revolution" began as Americans began consuming farmed fish; these fish and crusteceans were not raised in the oceans but rather in controlled lab environments. Farming fish has acted as a positive alternative to preserve the enviornment as overfishing throughout the ocean can be mitigated (Bourne, 2022).

However, the system is not without faults; parasitic infections have become increasingly likely and problematic. For example, a Mozambique fish farm was completly eradicated by a parasitic infection that killed all the organisms (Bourne, 2022).

One of the most common parasites are Vorticella. Vorticella commonly impact the decapod order of crustaceans, because Vorticella reproduce quickly and need few resources. The protists grows on the exterior of shrimp and infiltrate the gills, eventually killing the organism as they can no longer respirate (Bourne, 2022).

Parasitic infections are a deterent to the future possibilities of fish farming, thus treatment solidification must be conducted. This research aims to determine the efficency of Sodium Chloride (NaCl) and Tannic Acid as teatments to Vorticella infection in Cherry Shrimp.