In aquaculture, stress related disease problems which are leading to serious
limitations in sustainability of the sector are of major importance however, stressors in
aquaculture are unavoidable. In terms of characteristics of interaction of stress and
health in aquaculture, stress physiology has been the center of attention. In fish, the
physiological stress response to stressors causes primary response involving neurohormonal
stimulation, resulting in an increase in corticosteroid and catecholamine
secretions. In turn, these primary effects cause a number of physiological changes
known as a secondary response. Tertiary stress response involves the effects on
immunocompetence and potential susceptibility to diseases. The effects of stress on the
fish physiology have been extensively studied for many years. It is known that acute
stress can have beneficial effects in short-term, however, chronic stress hinders the
immune system from functioning in teleost fish. Thus, the recent approach to explain
the negative effects of stress, allostasis theory and allostatic load is presumed,
concerning with how stability of the body’s is achieved through change. The
correlation between the stressors and disease was reported for various fish species
cultured and the diseases. To characterize the stress response, the immunocompetence
state may provide better approach to understand the disease emergence. Stress response
measurements are mainly based on the levels of cortisol nevertheless, it might be better
to characterize the stress response with an index of immunological parameters and/or
allostatic load.
Keywords: Allostatic load, Aquaculture, Fish, Fish health, Physiological stress
response.