Oral vaccination is the most desirable immunization method by which to prevent fish disease occurring at the early larval stage. We developed an Escherichia coli-based oral nervous necrosis virus (NNV) subunit vaccine and demonstrated its effectiveness in orange spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) fry. However, the incubation period was determined to be over 2weeks. To enhance the efficacy and shorten the incubation period, a safe and digestible biological adjuvant should be found. Vibrio anguillarum, a common marine bacterium with immune-stimulatory capability was selected as an expression host. An expression vector containing its heat shock protein 60 gene (groE) as an inducible promoter was constructed to express recombinant NNV coat protein as an antigen. The recombinant V. anguilla...
Long-term fishery datasets can provide valuable insights into fishing histories, and represent a baseline against which to examine current status and plan for future management. For coral reef-associated fisheries, however, such datasets are extremely rare. We analyse a unique 45-year set of landings data on six reef fishes of commercial importance in Cubas coastal fisheries, together with information on management interventions, and examine the likely implications of over-fishing and management on the long-term condition of one grouper (Serranidae) and five snapper (Lutjanidae) species. The data clearly demonstrate differential responses to fishing and management according to the biology of the different species examined. In particular, those species that aggregate most predictably, and a...