Development of high performance Chinook salmon stocks for commercial aquaculture: Genetic hybridization to maximize culture efficiency and minimize environmental impact

单靠捕捞渔业无法维持对海产食品的需求，水产养殖是这一需求的一个日益增长的来源。鲑鱼养殖是加拿大不断发展的产业之一，价值极高（2010年为10亿美元;加拿大统计局）。然而，鲑鱼养殖必须平衡生产经济与环境影响。养殖的奇努克鲑鱼是一个有价值的利基市场，具有巨大的增长潜力，加上较低的环境问题（作为一个本地物种）;然而，他们的表现还没有得到系统的评估。我们将开发一种性能增强的杂交奇努克鲑鱼种群，具有更高的存活率和生长率，并降低饲料成本。新的股票将使用更少的野生来源的脂质和蛋白质作为饲料，并尽量减少用于疾病控制的药物和化学品的使用，从而最大限度地减少环境足迹。该项目将产生关于奇努克鲑鱼生产库存的数据，这将有助于提高鲑鱼养殖效率，这将有助于使加拿大成为太平洋鲑鱼养殖的全球领导者。 该提案涉及三所大学的主要研究人员，商业鲑鱼养殖场和相关行业以及负责鱼类管理的政府和非政府组织机构之间的密切合作。将在近交系养殖和野生原种杂交的后代中测量性能：这些后代预计将表现出与杂交玉米系类似的杂交优势。我们将在一系列环境（不同密度和食物类型）中饲养后代，并通过生长，存活和肉质的分子，生理和行为方面来比较性能。具体来说，我们将测试股票，环境和相互作用对生长，摄食和竞争能力，抗病能力，免疫功能，基因表达和代谢过程的影响。根据饲养条件的变化进行校准的优化商业杂交种群将在国内和国际上销售，支持加拿大大型和不断增长的水产养殖业的经济和环境发展。我们的研究还将解决鲑鱼保护中的重要问题。

Capture fisheries alone are unable to sustain demand for seafood, and aquaculture is a growing source for that demand. Salmon farming is one of Canada's growing industries and is extremely valuable ($1,000 million in 2010; Stats Canada). However, salmon farming must balance production economics with environmental impacts. Farmed Chinook salmon are a valuable niche market with substantial growth potential, coupled with lower perceived environmental concerns (being a native species); however, their performance has not been systematically assessed. We will develop a performance-enhanced hybrid Chinook salmon stock with higher survival and growth and reduced feed costs. The new stock will use less wild-sourced lipid and protein for feed and minimize drug & chemical use for disease control, thereby minimizing the environmental footprint. The project will generate data on Chinook salmon production stocks that will serve to improve salmon farming efficiency which will help make Canada a global leader in Pacific salmon farming. The proposal involves close collaboration among leading researchers at three Universities, commercial salmon farms & related industries, and government and NGO agencies charged with fish management. Performance will be measured in offspring from crosses between inbred farmed and wild stocks: those offspring are expected to exhibit hybrid vigour, analogous to hybrid corn lines. We will rear the offspring in a range of environments (varying density and food type), and compare performance as measured by molecular, physiological, and behavioural aspects of growth, survival and flesh quality. Specifically, we will test for stock, environmental and interactions effects on growth, feeding and competitive ability, disease resistance, immune function, gene expression, and metabolic processes. The optimized commercial hybrid stocks, calibrated for variation in rearing conditions, will be marketed domestically and internationally, supporting the economic and environmental development of Canada's large and growing aquaculture industry. Our research will also address important questions in the conservation of salmonids.