Investigation of genomic approaches for management of early maturation in farmed Atlantic salmon

鲑鱼的提早成熟，也就是所谓的“烧烤”，是该行业面临的一个重大问题，因为这会降低这种鱼的食用品质。鲑鱼养殖计划旨在减少早熟，同时减少进入市场的天数，并提高对市场体重的生存能力。2015年，位于温哥华岛周围的海洋网围栏站点经历了水温的显着差异，导致不同产区的早熟速度不同。之前的研究已经发现，成熟度的变化具有适度遗传的遗传倾向。该项目旨在帮助Cermaq Canada(自1995年以来一直在养殖大西洋鲑鱼)制定基因组战略，以选择生产种群中早熟率较低的品种，同时保持养殖种群的理想特征，并考虑到环境的差异。

Early maturation of salmon, called "grilsing" is a significant problem for the industry as it reduces the eating quality of the fish. Salmon breeding programs are designed to reduce early maturation at the same time as decreasing days to market and increasing survivability to market weight. In 2015 ocean net pen sites located around Vancouver Island experienced significant differences in water temperatures resulting in varying rates of early maturation between production areas. Previous research has found variation in maturity to have a moderately heritable genetic predisposition. This project is designed to assist Cermaq Canada (who have been breeding Atlantic salmon since 1995) to develop a genomic strategy for the selection of decreased rates of early maturation in production populations while maintaining the desirable characteristics of the breeding population, and accounting for differences in environment.