Abstract
This study investigated the effects of occupational enrichment, specifically underwater currents, on the stress status of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). A total of 540 fish were divided into three groups: control tanks without artificial currents (CO), tanks with randomly fired underwater currents (RFC), and tanks with continuous current throughout the day (CT). After 30 days, half of the fish in each group underwent a 5-day pre-slaughter fasting (5D), while the others were fed until the day before slaughter (0D). Fish in the RFC group exhibited lower levels of plasma cortisol and acetylcholinesterase enzyme activity in hypothalamus and optic tract than other groups, suggesting an improved stress status. RFC group also showed higher levels of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) in 5D fish and higher liver glycogen stores, suggesting improved energy reserves. In comparison, the CT group had higher LDH levels, possibly due to their increased swimming activity. The CO group had significantly lower NEFA levels at 5D compared to the RFC group, suggesting lower energy reserves. The RFC fish had darker and yellow-reddish skin and liver color, suggesting an improved stress status and lower lipid reserves, respectively. Overall, although a significant stress response was not observed in fasted individuals, possibly due to the relatively short fasting period, the study suggests that providing occupational enrichment using randomly fired underwater currents for 1 month helped to improve stress status in rainbow trout, indicating that occupational enrichment during the grow-out phase can positively impact the welfare of rainbow trout during routine handling procedures.
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The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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This project was financed by Santander-UCM, project PR108/20–05.
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Andrea Martínez Villalba: methodology, data curation, and writing—original draft preparation. Álvaro De la Llave-Propín: methodology, data curation, and writing—review and editing. Jesús De la Fuente: conceptualization, writing—review and editing, supervision, and funding acquisition. Concepción Pérez: methodology, validation, and writing—review and editing. Elisabet González de Chavarri: methodology and writing—review and editing. María Teresa Díaz: methodology and writing—review and editing. Almudena Cabezas: methodology and writing—review and editing. Roberto González Garoz: methodology and writing—review and editing. Fernando Torrent: validation and writing—review and editing. Morris Villarroel: conceptualization, writing—review and editing, and funding acquisition. Rubén Bermejo-Poza: conceptualization, validation, data curation, writing—review and editing, and supervision.
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All experiments have been conducted as per the guidelines of the Complutense University Animal Experimentation Committee. No approval was necessary because the occupational enrichment method does not involve any suffering for the animals.
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Villalba, A.M., De la Llave-Propín, Á., De la Fuente, J. et al. Using underwater currents as an occupational enrichment method to improve the stress status in rainbow trout. Fish Physiol Biochem 50, 463–475 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01277-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01277-3