Gisle Flodore Youbouni Ghepdeu
Biography
2017 till present: 3rd Year PhD Student, University of Douala- Cameroon in fisheries (Production and valorization of fisheries resources focus on jellyfish). 2010: Masters’ with Thesis in Biochemistry option immunology and parasitology, University of Yaoundé I- Cameroon. 2007: Masters’ without Thesis in Biochemistry option Genetic engineering University of Yaoundé I-Cameroon. 2006: Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, University of Yaoundé I-Cameroon.
Research Interest
Jellyfish taxonomy and ecology.Shrimps and prawns? taxonomy. Shrimp hatchery management. Water quality assessment.Data analyses with R.Commodity audit of LMOs/ GMOs using molecular genetics technique.
Abstract
Towards the sustainable management of jellyfish blooms within coastal regions: a first approach with the development of jellyfish-based catfish feed in Cameroon.
Since many decades, coastal marine environments and ocean economy are challenged with the increase of jellyfish blooms. Despite this global trend, there is still little awareness in many regions which however experience jellyfish blooms. Since the year 2000, there is an observed shift in human perception about jellyfish as a nuisance to jellyfish as a resource, in many places especially in Europe. This is happening after the high occurrence of this marine resource and their proven nutritional value. In Africa, jellyfish research is new except for South Africa and Egypt which are leading the country in jellyfish research since the 1980s. In Cameroon, jellyfish represent by-catch products of the fisheries sector. I have been leading jellyfish research including taxonomy, ecology and valorization at the Specialized Research Station for Marine Ecosystems since 2017. Given the results of their composition and their nutritional value, as a first step, we initiated jellyfish valorization as a supplemental feed for catfish aquaculture, one of the top two species of economic interest in the Country. Here we show that bycatch marine resources like jellyfish can be used to increase feed quality and the nutritional value of fish flesh for the benefit of the fish, fishers and fish consumers. In Cameroon, the aquaculture sector is facing many constraints which include low quality of seeds/fingerlings, high cost of commercial feed and low performance of locally formulated feeds. There is a low awareness within local feed producers regarding key ingredients that are required to boost aquaculture productivity such as enhancers, growth promoters, antioxidants, etc. Local fish feed is produced with basic knowledge and the diversity of feed ingredients is very low. This paper highlights the potential use of jellyfish dry matter as fish feed supplements to enhance the nutritional value of produced fish.
