WATER QUALITY CHANGES AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES DURING LIVE FISH TRANSPORT AND MEASURES TO REDUCE TRANSPORT-RELATED STRESS: A REVIEW

Stress during fish transport is a worldwide important issue. The establishment of species-specific standard transport protocols help the development of aquaculture. Elevated plasma cortisol is a classical stress indicator for both short and long transport, while plasma glucose is perhaps a better marker for short transport. Water deterioration (especially water pH reduction and ammonia increase) and stress responses have been key issues that need urgent solutions during live fish transport, however, the main measuring methods are still limited and deficient. Since water deterioration affects fish physiology and fish physiological processes cause water deterioration, the assessments on both water and physiology of fish are special need for live fish transport research. The present study brings an integrated analysis about physiological response and water quality changes during live fish transport and the common methods to reduce transport-related stress, and provides the perspective for future studies on live fish transport.