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Breeding and genetics
From new hatcheries to genomic analysis, investment in this sector continued to move forward
Above: Benchmark ova at different stages Opposite from top: Jonas Jonasson; The Pure Salmon facility; Charles Høstlund IN January, we reported that
Benchmark Genetics had been awarded a fi ve-year contract to supply eggs to Nordic Aqua Partners’ massive land-based salmon farm in Ningbo, China.
Using recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technology, the farm will have an initial capacity of 8,000 tonnes annually, but it plans to increase this to 16,000 and then 40,000 tonnes. It will be the fi rst fully integrated and commercially viable RAS facility in China.
Ningbo is a coastal city, strategically close to Shanghai and with a population of 7.6 million in the city and surrounding area. The port of Ningbo-Zhoushan is one of the busiest in the world.
Benchmark has committed to provide 9.5 million ova from its site in Iceland.
Also, genetics specialist Xelect signed a partnership agreement with FirstWave Group, Africa’s largest tilapia fi sh producer.
The deal will create a breeding programme aimed at developing local, high-performance Nile tilapia breeds in East Africa, working with FirstWave’s operating companies, Yalelo Zambia and Yalelo Uganda.
FirstWave is Africa’s leading aquaculture fi rm, operating a vertically integrated group of companies across the production, distribution, and retail of aquafeed and fi sh in southern and eastern Africa.
In February, Benchmark’s Iceland arm, StofnFiskur hf, changed its name as part of the parent company’s “single brand” strategy. Stofnfi skur will now be known as Benchmark Genetics Iceland hf, but “StofnFiskur” remains as the brand for its Atlantic salmon breeding programme.
Jonas Jonasson, CEO of Benchmark Genetics Iceland, added: “This move is a part of Benchmark’s strategy in building a strong unifi ed brand across companies and business areas”.
Benchmark Genetics has operations located in the southwest corner of Iceland, including two separate broodstock facilities, an incubation centre and a family production unit. The new head offi ce is located in Hafnarfjordur, next to the capital, Reykjavik. In addition to Atlantic salmon, Benchmark Genetics Iceland also holds a facility for lumpfi sh juveniles.
In May, Benchmark Genetics also announced that it had won a contract to supply eggs for land-based aquaculture group Pure Salmon. The agreement covered the delivery of more than 80 million eggs per annum at full capacity, and also formalised a strategic collaboration in research and development. The fi rst delivery of ova is expected in 2022. Pure Salmon is a land-based
salmon farmer using RAS technology. It operates a farm in Poland and is currently developing sites in Japan, France and the United States, with further development planned in China, Southeast Asia and the United Arab Emirates. The group is working towards a target production capacity of around 260,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon annually. Benchmark Genetics is signifi cantly increasing production capacity in Iceland by building a new incubation centre, which is expected to be in operation as early as this summer. Benchmark has also hired two new dedicated team members within the commercial team with specifi c competencies and experience in farming using RAS systems.
Also in May, Norway Royal Salmon announced it was abandoning plans to continue breeding triploid salmon. The news follows a decision by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to order the suspension of future development work on this type of fi sh until it can be established it is bringing welfare benefi ts.
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has decided that no new triploid smolt will be released after the spring of 2022 and that no triploid salmon should be kept at sea past the end of 2023.
Triploid salmon has three sets of chromosomes, unlike ordinary diploid salmon, which has two. The extra chromosome, added through hormone treatment, makes the fi sh sterile so if they escape and get into rivers they are unable to interbreed with wild fi sh stocks.
NRS has been working on the experimental triploid project for a number of years. The decision is being seen as a setback for the company, which has now said it will switch totally to diploid salmon by 2023. CEO Charles Høstlund said: “NRS has now for many years made a signifi cant eff ort to develop and improve the production of triploid salmon in collaboration with the [Norwegian] Institute of Marine Research and other professional institutions.
“One of the experiences with triploid salmon is that it seems to be more exposed to bacterial and viral diseases.”
Above: The AquaGen team Right: Oyster farm Below right: Scottish Salmon farm salmon “As a result, NRS has had a dialogue “As a result, NRS has had a dialogue with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, where the Ministry has come to the conclusion that they adjust the condition of use of sterile fi sh until there is a decision in the administration on whether triploid production is fi sh welfare sound or not.” In June, we learned that a team of international aquaculture researchers, led by AquaGen Scotland had made a signifi cant breakthrough with the identifi cation of two new genetic markers that indicate greater resistance to a bacterial infection in Atlantic salmon.
The project was backed by the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC) and headed by AquaGen Scotland, with partners from the University of Stirling’s Institute of Aquaculture, DawnFresh Farming and Cooke Aquaculture Scotland.
The study explored the genetics that determine whether fi sh are resistant to Flavobacterium psychrophilum, a bacteria that can lead to health issues in salmon fry.
This scientifi c milestone is expected to pave the way for selective breeding programmes, which could boost the health and welfare of farmed Scottish salmon by breeding new fi sh from parents that possess the genetic resistance markers and are, therefore, expected to display increased resistance to the bacteria.
Flavobacteriosis – the disease caused by the bacteria – can be a particular threat to smaller, juvenile fi sh and is a widespread challenge for fi sh and is a widespread challenge for the aquaculture sector, with infections the aquaculture sector, with infections also reported in Chile, Norway and also reported in Chile, Norway and Canada. However, current prevention Canada. However, current prevention and treatment programmes are limand treatment programmes are limited – vaccination by injection cannot ited – vaccination by injection cannot be used due to the size of the fi sh be used due to the size of the fi sh and, as the sector continues to move and, as the sector continues to move away from antibiotic treatments, a away from antibiotic treatments, a genetic breakthrough could hold the genetic breakthrough could hold the key. To identify the two genetic markers, more than 4,000 fi sh from AquaGen were tested for more than 70,000 genetic markers using a specially designed lab-based model, which mimics the natural infection route. The next stage of the research programme is to conduct fi eld trials at one of Cooke Aquaculture’s sites using salmon eggs specifi cally selected by AquaGen. It is hoped that in the event of a natural outbreak of the bacterial disease being detected, these fi sh can be tested to validate the eff ect of the genetic markers. In July, we reported on some shellfi sh news. Experts at Xelect, working with the Orkney Shellfi sh Hatchery (OSH), had found a way to detect a pathogen responsible for the decline of wild European oyster populations based on DNA analysis.
Bonamia ostrae is a disease that aff ects European fl at oysters, representing a serious risk for wild and farmed oysters. The widely used test for this disease is “destructive”, meaning that the oyster is damaged or killed in the process. The new test, developed by Xelect and OSH, adapts a tried and tested method known as a Taqman Assay using a fi ltered water sample – a technique called environmental DNA
(eDNA) analysis.
Xelect’s Dr Paolo Ruggeri, who oversaw the analysis, said: “Bivalves like the fl at oyster fi lter large volumes of water every day, and in the process shed tiny amounts of their own DNA and the DNA of any parasite they are carrying. Using a highly sensitive DNA test, we can sample the waters the oysters live in to identify the presence of the pathogen. It’s an extremely cost-eff ective and humane approach, and the oysters don’t even need to leave their hatchery”. Nik Sachlikidis of the Cadman Capital Group, owners of OSH, commented: “This is another demonstration of our commitment to using science-backed, cutting-edge technology to provide the highest possible standard of product. We know that our oysters are exceptional and now we can also demonstrate that they’re disease-free too.” In September, RAS technology company Nofi tech announced it had won a contract with The Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) to help redevelop SSC’s hatchery at Applecross site in Wester Ross. The agreement is part of a £49m investment to create a state-of£49m investment to create a state-ofthe-art RAS unit at the Applecross site.
RAS technology, SSC said, would allow fi sh to be reared for longer in freshwater tanks before being moved to marine sites. Greater control of the freshwater rearing environment means that farmers can produce larger smolt, shortening the marine production element of the cycle and so reducing the biological risk of rearing in the sea. Ian Laister, Managing Director of The Scottish Salmon Company, said: “This contract marks the fi rst important milestone in our commitment to incorporate RAS technology across all our freshwater production, which is fundamental to our growth strategy. Nofi tech’s experience in this fi eld will ensure that SSC is at the leading edge of RAS technology not only at Applecross, but at future freshwater facilities.” The programme to redevelop the existing hatchery at Applecross is intended to be the fi rst of three large hatcheries in Scotland, with sites for the other two still to be determined. It is part of a commitment by SSC’s parent company, Bakkafrost, to invest more than £40m a year in Scotland “across the value chain” over the next fi ve years. Meanwhile, Aquaculture breeding and genetics specialist AquaGen Scotland appointed Steven Butler as Development Manager for its Holywood Breeding Centre, near Dumfries. Butler, from Errol, near Perth, came Butler, from Errol, near Perth, came
to AquaGen with a strong background in aquaculture engineering project and hatchery management, having worked for several of the major salmon producers over the past 30 years.
Butler said: “It is a great opportunity for me to bring my experience to a company that plays such an important role in the Scottish aquaculture value-chain.”
AquaGen acquired the centre in March 2019 and the company has invested more than £5m, rebuilding and repurposing the facility for salmon egg production.
Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Aff airs and Islands, Mairi Gougeon, presided at its long-overdue offi cial opening in July. It had been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In November, we reported that Scottish Sea Farms (SSF) had taken delivery of the fi rst batch of salmon eggs grown from selected stock from its own marine farms.
The company hopes that the “home-grown” eggs will produce a more robust generation of salmon, better able to cope with climate change and with marine conditions in Scotland.
The Scottish salmon industry typically imports salmon eggs that are then grown in freshwater hatcheries. For the Barcaldine hatchery, SSF has been working with breeding specialists AquaGen to select from the best-performing stock at SSF’s own farms. SSF’s Head of Fish Welfare, Dr Ralph Bickerdike, said: “Ultimately, we’re seeking to match the right stock to the right conditions in order to maximise fi sh welfare.
As climate conditions continue to change – and with it the marine environment – we’re acting now to help ensure future stocks can withstand those changes.” The initiative aims to maximise fi sh welfare once at sea by improving overall robustness to Scottish marine conditions and increasing resistance to the health challenges that the changing environment can give rise to – in particular, gill health, which is now thought to be one of the biggest challenges facing farmed salmon globally.
AquaGen and SSF hope to collect a set of genomic data as soon as three years from now, which will help to identify genetic traits that can improve survival rates for salmon in marine sites.
The two companies are also collaborating with the University of Aberdeen, feed specialists BioMar, Marine Scotland Science and the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre to increase understanding of how seasonality and location infl uence gill health and how farmed salmon respond to these challenges.
SSF said the insights into breeding for improved resistance to gill health challenges will be shared with other producers of farmed salmon in Scotland and overseas.
Above: AquaGen ova
