A paradigm shift in safe seafood production: From contaminant detection to fish monitoring – Application of biological warning systems to aquaculture

• The challenges in safety monitoring using classical approaches are discussed.
• The need for a paradigm shift in safety assurance methods is introduced.
• A brief, general introduction to Biological Systems is given.
• Use of fish as BWS and its application in aquaculture are presented.
• Some advantages of implementing fish as a BWS in aquaculture are listed.

The annual global increase in the production, particularly from aquaculture, and consumption of seafood is expected to continue in the future. One of the main worldwide concerns from the point of view of seafood safety is the increasing number of novel and unexpected chemical substances that contaminate the aquatic environment. Currently, there is a lack of cost effective, user-friendly methods to detect many of these contaminants and there is no method to detect unknown contaminants. A paradigm shift is necessary in the seafood production industry from contaminant detection only, to monitoring the effects of the contaminants as well. This can be achieved by introducing a systems approach and using a biological warning system (BWS) specifically adapted to fish farming. In this manner, it would be possible to develop affordable, on-line identification of production units displaying atypical responses or behaviour – and therefore potentially contaminated – regardless of whether the contaminant is an identified or an unknown substance. Once developed, the BWS should be implemented within the HACCP plans and the results accompany the traceability documentation of the products.