JU-IAPW

The Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters (FFPW) consists of the Research Institute of Fish Culture and Hydrobiology in Vodnany (RIFCH), the Institute of Aquaculture and Protection of Waters (IAPW) in Ceske Budejovice, the Institute of Complex Systems (ICS) in Nove Hrady and the International Environmental Educational, Advisory and Information Centre of Protection Vodnany (IEEAIC).
The RIFCH is focused on scientific and especially applied research, education and activities in the fields of fisheries and protection of waters. The RIFCH utilizes a small fishpond farm, river fishing preserve, specialized laboratories, aquarium rooms, two experimental facilities for research into reproduction, genetics and the breeding of fish, and the intensive breeding of fish and crayfish, including recirculation systems with water filtration. The IAPW provides research, educational and consulting services focusing on pond aquaculture, nutrition and feeding of fish in ponds and intensive culture of fish. The ICS deals with the study of complex systems in natural and social sciences, with technical and other applications of research results.

Name of the infrastructure: Institute of Aquaculture and Protection of Waters
Location: České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Website address: http://www.frov.jcu.cz/en
Contact: Jan Mráz

Facilities

The Institute of Aquaculture and Protection of Waters (IAPW) is composed of two analytical labs, four aquarium rooms and a processing plant. The analytical part consists of two fully equipped labs (fume hoods, freezers, fridges, centrifuges, balances, etc.) with instruments for proximate analyses (Soxhlet, muffle oven etc.), sensory analyses (sensory panel, texture meter, photometer), lipid, volatiles and oxidation analyses (GC with FID and head space auto sampler, HP TLC, ultra microbalance, spectrophotometer), lipidomics (MALDI-TOF), vitamin and protein analyses (UPLC, spectrophotometer), elemental analyses (CHNS-O elemental analyzer), microscopy analyses (a broad array of stereomicroscopes) and microbiological analyses (stomacher, incubators). The aquarium rooms have 10 independent RAS systems installed composed of 3 or 4 modules enabling division of the systems in smaller units. All the RAS are equipped with drum mechanical filtration, biological filtration with floating elements, UVC ozone generator, aeration, heating, cooling and feeding system. Monitoring of water quality could be done on-line (temperature, O2, pH), by multimeters, CO2 meter, flowmeter, and spectrophotometer. Rearing tanks enables sedimentation and quantification of sediments. Available are aquariums and tanks of different volumes: 30l (14), 60l (72), 165l (36), 300l (24), 390l (24), 700l (9) and 1000l (10). The processing plant enables the processing of fish into a wide range of products.

Services currently offered by the infrastructure

The IAPW offers a wide range of analytical services related to fish and feed quality, fish nutrition and early ontogenesis of fish as well as feeding trials, culture of new fish species etc. The laboratory developed a patented technology to produce carp with increased content of omega 3 fatty acids. Another key area is technology of intensive aquaculture and early ontogeny of economically important or protected species and species of interest to sport fishing.

Modality of access

The access will comprise the use of the facilities with regard to experiments and access to the laboratory equipment. Usually, trained and experienced engineer- and technical staff will carry out the standard procedures and the general maintenance. The external user will be strongly integrated in all processes, sampling, data recording, due analyses and assessment, and preparation and dissemination of results. Facility will provide suitable supervision and guidance for potential inexperienced users to properly carry out the work. Scientific support will include advice on experimental design and methodology, documentation of results for all experiments conducted in the project and appropriate sampling and storage of samples. The technical and management staff will be helpful with the overall project´s implementation.

Unit of Access

One unit of access for the IAPW is defined as 1 week. Typical duration of the project is 2 weeks for 1 researcher.