ABSTRACT
New challenges arise in the face of global climate change which impact every ecosystem on earth, including aquatic systems. The world’s oceans show trends of increased surface water temperatures, sea levels, and ocean acidity. These environmental shifts have an impact on fisheries and aquaculture. According to the World Bank, the growing human population will also require increased production of food and nutrients, which will make of aquaculture a major player. The increasing demand in aquaculture and fisheries must rely on efficient methods to operate these industries. Using transcriptomic information will allow a better understanding of the biology of these food sources. The RNA-seq techniques have provided a better understanding about growth and development, immune function, stress and adaptations of several aquatic species. The use of population genetics or (genomics) to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between populations or closely related species can provide greater insight from stock structure to fishery-induced evolution. Candidate loci can be further investigated to better understand evolutionary processes, which provide clues on physiological adaptations and gene expression patterns that can help elucidate how these organisms respond to their current environment. Moreover, transcriptomic analyses such as differential gene expression can determine resilience in various environmental conditions such as pollution, hypoxia/anoxia, salinity fluctuations, and temperature extremes. Recently, an increase in transcriptomic studies for many aquaculture species has aimed at improving knowledge on growth, development, and metabolism, providing vital information for fisheries and aquaculture industries to make adjustments to environmental conditions such as oxygen availability, salinity and nutrition. All these aspects provide insightful information for advancing our knowledge of aquaculture, fisheries and conservation management.
