Professor Jiansan Jia, a Chinese national, joined the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1998, and has dedicated all his efforts in promoting sustainable development and management of fisheries and aquaculture at global and regional levels. He has been the Chief of Aquaculture Service for 15 years, overseeing the FAO aquaculture programme through provision of policy advice, technical assistance and information and knowledge sharing and capacity building for developing countries. He was appointed Deputy Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division of FAO in 2012. Before FAO, Professor Jia worked for the Ministry of Agriculture in China for more than 20 years, holding a number of leading positions at local and central governmental and non-governmental institutions. He was involved in agriculture and rural development, fisheries and aquaculture management and participated extensively in bilateral and multi-lateral fisheries negotiations as well as distant water fishing operations, and supervised and coordinated international cooperation between China and various governments and international organisations in the fields of agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries. He retired from FAO in 2017 and is now a Visiting Professor at the Shanghai Ocean University in China.
My main research interests are the growth improvement of candidate brackishwater aquaculture species using molecular tools. I also conduct research on the molecular systematics of coastal decapod crustaceans, especially shrimps of the Penaeidae and Palaemonidae. My more recent research has focused on mangrove and ichthyo-faunal biodiversity of the remotely located Andaman and Nicobar group of islands. I gained my PhD in Aquaculture from the ICAR Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai.
My research focuses on nutritional physiology with the aims of understanding how aquatic animals use and waste nutrients including amino acids, fatty acids, and minerals. This encompasses understanding climate change effects, growth under sub-optimum conditions and developing new ingredients and aquafeeds. My PhD was on nutritional bioenergetics of grass carp and his interest in warm water animals continues with research on sea bass (barramundi) and tropical lobster species. I am also very interested in globally relevant aquaculture systems including polyculture, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS) and off-shore aquaculture.
My research interests include aquatic stress physiology and molecular ecotoxicology; aquatic molecular immunology; aquatic reproductive physiology; aquatic genetics and breeding. I have more than thirty years’ research experience in related fields. I have received more than twenty research grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the National Key Research and Development Project of China, the National Institute of Health (NIH, USA), the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission (GLFC, USA & Canada). I have published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and received several academic awards from academic organizations such as the Chinese Fisheries Society. I have a lot of experience in review of academic articles submitted to top journals in the field and review of research proposals submitted to NIH, NSFC, the National Centre of Science and Technology Evaluation of Kazakhstan, and other scientific foundations. I also have worked as a technical consultant to provide professional guidance for the industry for many years.
My research interests major in fish nutrition and feeding and I have authored over 80 scientific publications and book chapters on this topic. My extension program focuses on improving the understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in amino acid and carbohydrate utilization and metabolism among fish species, supported by funding from the National Science Foundation and collaborative research with industry. My research interests also include reducing dietary fishmeal and fish oil levels. Over the last 12 years, I have focussed on replacing fishmeal with cheaper plant proteins in the diet of aquatic animals.
My research interests include fisheries eco-environmental monitoring, essential habitat assessment, resource conservation and discrimination of the geographic origin of fishery products. I have 20 years’ research experience in corresponding conservation biology, pollution ecology, and eco-toxicology, especially through the use of bioindicators (e.g., otolith microchemistry of freshwater, diadromous and marine fishes; “Freshwater Mussel Watch” monitoring).
My current research interests include fish and shellfish health management particularly in brackishwater ecosystems. I have lead research programmes on disease control in finfish and mud crabs; surveillance and management of fish and shellfish disease in aquaculture; and development of molecular diagnostics and genomic characterisation of betanodavirus causing viral nervous necrosis in marine fish aquaculture in India. I have played a lead role in coordination of a regional proficiency testing programme for six aquatic animal disease laboratories in India in collaboration with NACA and CSIRO (Australia); and in developing diagnostic capability for exotic diseases in fish and shrimp. I am currently engaged in surveillance of disease, particularly of emerging issues in brackishwater aquaculture such as Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei in shrimp. I have interests in genomics, molecular characterisation and host-parasite interaction of shrimp microsporidians with special reference to E. hepatopenaei.
I have two research foci. The first is RNA-based silencing technology (RNAi) for shrimp disease control. Currently, my group and I have engineered organisms that are considered as ‘‘Generally Regarding As Safe’’ by the US Food and Drug Administration such as microalgae and probiotics for double-stranded RNA production. Another focused research is nucleic acid-based detection for shrimp and fish viruses with improved accuracy and increased sensitivity. I have developed multiplex PCR for convenient differentiation of shrimp specimens with real IHHNV infection, and those with insert types, which are practically used currently.
I work on water quality, red tide monitoring and site selection for marine fish culture. My recent focus is on 1) applying hydraulic modelling for determining the carrying capacity of a fish farming site to achieve sustainable mariculture, and 2) developing and applying advanced imaging and hydraulic modelling technology for red tide forecast and management.
