1Life Science Research Center, Meijo University, Aichi 468-8503, 2Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University, Shimoarata, Kagoshima 890-0056, Japan
We investigated the survival and physiological effect of compressed air treatment on living fish under warm water condition before storage out of water. Tilapia and bastard halibut were anesthetised by exposure to compressed air treatment at 28°C. The anesthetised fish were wrapped by wet paper and stored at 4°C. The oxygen contents in the blood of the treated tilapia and bastard halibut were 10.5 and 18.00 μL/mL, respectively, which were higher than those of untreated controls. The survival periods of the treated fish were 2 times longer than the controls. Tilapia were unable to swim normally after 6 h storage even after the treatment. However, these fish recovered their swimming ability by the second compressed air treatment after storage.
As a result, the anesthetised condition of tilapia and bastard halibut prolonged their survival periods out of water induced by the compressed air treatment at 28°C. Furthermore, fish tired by the longer storage recovered by the compressed air treatment. Thus, it is conceivable that the compressed air treatment coud be used for the transportation of living fish without water.