dr.ir. RM (Roel) Maas

During my Master Aquaculture and Marine resource Management in Aquaculture I specialised in Aquaculture. During my two theses I oriented myself in the direction of nutrition. After my master I worked on the Shetland Isles in Scotland, in an Atlantic salmon hatchery as a fish husbandry technician, where I became acquainted with most aspects related to running large and high-tech Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS).

I came back to the Wageningen University for my PhD in fish nutrition, which resulted in the PhD thesis “Upgrading low quality feeds for tilapia by enzyme and probiotic supplementation”. During my PhD I aimed to assess the potential of dietary enzyme and probiotic supplementation in improving the nutritional value of low quality feed ingredients, using Nile tilapia as a model species. With the objective to allow the increased use of low-quality crop residues in aquafeeds, which contributes to the development of circular food systems.

Since 2021 I started working as an aquaculture researcher with a focus on RAS and the effects thereof on culture animals. Fish in aquaculture (eco)systems are critically dependent on water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen, carbon dioxide and different nitrogen species, parameters influenced by host-microbe interactions. Central to aquatic ecosystems functioning is management of the main biological processes affecting water quality. This holds true for all aquaculture systems, ranging from small pond systems to intensive RAS which provide exciting developments to modernize aquaculture. Successful aquaculture systems integrate biological, physical and chemical insights in water quality with optimal effects on fish growth, health and performance.