TripGenWelfare
Triploid salmon are sterile and may be used commercially to mitigate unwanted interbreeding between escaped farmed salmon and wild salmon. However triploids are prone to lower performance and suboptimal welfare compared to diploid salmon, and the commercial salmon farming industry has limited the use of triploids to date.
We propose that an inbreeding effect due to the extra maternal chromosome and/or suboptimal execution of the hydrostatic pressure treatment used to produce triploids may contribute to low performance and welfare. We will test these hypotheses by conducting a growth experiment using standard diploid, triploid and inbred diploid salmon grown to harvest size, and an experiment that manipulates the pressure treatment used to produce triploids. We also aim to produce tetraploid salmon that can be crossed with diploid salmon to produce triploids without a pressure treatment. Results from these experiments could transform the way triploid salmon are produced and will allow commercial salmon producers to adjust their breeding programs to ensure that healthy and robust triploid salmon are produced in the future. If successful, this will be the first time that tetraploid individuals have been viably produced in this species and would open up a new resource for experimental research in this species as well as an alternative method for the production of triploid salmon in the aquaculture industry.
We would use 12840 salmon in three experiments where fish will be reared in standard husbandry procedures. All experiments have been designed to minimise the number of experimental animals while still providing useful scientific data.
We propose that an inbreeding effect due to the extra maternal chromosome and/or suboptimal execution of the hydrostatic pressure treatment used to produce triploids may contribute to low performance and welfare. We will test these hypotheses by conducting a growth experiment using standard diploid, triploid and inbred diploid salmon grown to harvest size, and an experiment that manipulates the pressure treatment used to produce triploids. We also aim to produce tetraploid salmon that can be crossed with diploid salmon to produce triploids without a pressure treatment. Results from these experiments could transform the way triploid salmon are produced and will allow commercial salmon producers to adjust their breeding programs to ensure that healthy and robust triploid salmon are produced in the future. If successful, this will be the first time that tetraploid individuals have been viably produced in this species and would open up a new resource for experimental research in this species as well as an alternative method for the production of triploid salmon in the aquaculture industry.
We would use 12840 salmon in three experiments where fish will be reared in standard husbandry procedures. All experiments have been designed to minimise the number of experimental animals while still providing useful scientific data.