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Applying science to broodstock improvement
Stock answers
Broodstock – shellfi sh, shrimps or fi nfi sh – is constantly being improved through technology
BREEDING fi sh for aquaculture is increasingly a science – and hard science at that – rather than an art. The applica� on of cu� ng-edge biotechnology, including genomics, is already paying dividends for fi sh welfare and for farmers’ profi tability.
For example, earlier this autumn we learned that a gene with a major role in resistance to infec� ous pancrea� c necrosis virus (IPNV) that can cause high mortality levels in farmed salmon and trout has been iden� fi ed in a study by a team of scien� sts. The study was carried out by the Roslin Ins� tute and Hendrix Gene� cs, together with the University of S� rling, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science and Uppsala University.
The gene aff ec� ng resistance to a viral disease in Atlan� c salmon was iden� fi ed using CRISPR gene edi� ng technology. This discovery, made using a combina� on of genomics and gene edi� ng technologies, provides insight into why some salmon are resistant and others are suscep� ble to IPNV.
Robbert Blonk, Director of R&D at Hendrix Gene� cs Aquaculture, explains: “The research project aimed at crea� ng cell lines that had a targeted knocked-out (dismantled) candidate gene called NAE1, which was suspected to be responsible for suscep� bility to IPNV.
“Results showed that knocking out NAE1 fully explained the resistance in a very convincing way and this was published in a peerreviewed ar� cle. We are currently further tes� ng the gene.
“Also interes� ng – and even more useful for the industry – is that we now know which gene we need to check in our broodstock to even further improve the accuracy in selec� on for improved IPNV resistance in our stock.”
It’s just part of a busy year for Hendrix Gene� cs, which also owns hatchery business Landcatch in the UK. The company has upgraded its smolt unit in north-west Scotland, producing organic smolts for its key customers.
Bram Geurts, Director of Sales & Marke� ng and Salmonids at Hendrix Gene� cs Aquaculture, says: “The upgrade has proven its value in this excep� onal warm and dry summer. This is only one example of how we are investing in our sites and infrastructures to ‘engineer out’ risks as much as possible. Not only for our smolt rearing and gene� c support
contracts in Scotland, but also in our opera� ons in rainbow trout and vannamei shrimp abroad, we are inves� ng in upgrading the infrastructure, and further � ghtening the rela� onship and informa� on sharing with customers now that the Covid restric� ons allow for closer interac� on again.”
In Chile, Hendrix has been working on its Atlan� c salmon product with the addi� on of improved robustness to bacterial kidney disease. This is especially important for the company’s customer base in the southern region, Magallanes.
A� er several challenge trials, Hendrix can now accurately monitor the animals’ health status during infec� on under these trials, and with genomics iden� fy the gene� cally more healthy and robust broodstock.
The group also owns Troutlodge – the world’s leading producer of eyed trout eggs – based in the US, in the states of Washington and Idaho. There has been good take-up, Hendrix says, of lines that are intensively selected for resistance to bacterial cold-water disease (BCWD).
Through Kona Bay, the group’s shrimp brand for Asia, Hendrix has developed three separate products – Speed, Strength and Balance – developed specifi cally for diff erent environments depending on the level of biosecurity the farmer is able to provide. The three lines give diff erent weigh� ngs to growth rates and resistance to common health challenges.
Hendrix is inves� ng in local broodstock produc� on for Kona Bay in several bases in Asia. The fi rst “broodstock mul� plica� on centre” is now opera� ng in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, with partners Skre� ng and Ecuacul� vos, Hendrix is inves� ng in Macrobio, its brand-new shrimp post-larvae (PL) produc� on centre and nucleus opera� on. This opera� on is targeted to supply the Ecuadorian market from the Kona Bay brand.
Benchmark Gene� cs has also had a busy few months. On the second day of the Aqua Nor trade show in Trondheim, Benchmark signed a long-term agreement for the delivery of salmon eggs to the Premium Svensk Lax plant, a recircula� ng aquaculture systems (RAS) plant that is currently under construc� on in Säffl e, Värmland in Sweden.
In August 2020, Premium Svensk Lax was the fi rst company to receive the approval of the Swedish authori� es to build a land-based facility for Atlan� c salmon. The plant, which is designed to produce 10,000 tonnes annually, is scheduled to be in full-scale produc� on in 2024. Salmon will then be slaughtered, processed and delivered fi ve days a week to the Swedish market. The goal is to meet 20% of local demand, with opportuni� es for further growth. The agreement entails that Benchmark, as the sole supplier, will provide gene� cs from its biosecurity facili� es in Iceland for a three-year period, with an op� on for another two years.
In November, Regal Springs, the world’s leading premium � lapia company, and Benchmark Gene� cs, entered long-term strategic co-opera� on to support Regal Springs’ breeding programmes for premium natural-grown � lapia.
Regal Springs has major opera� ons in Indonesia, Honduras and Mexico – with the US being its largest market – and commercial organisa� ons around the globe. The agreement secures Regal Springs access to Benchmark’s team of experts and advanced support systems for selec� ve breeding programmes and the company’s extensive experience from 30 programmes for 20 species, with � lapia one of the main focus areas.
“This strategic collabora� on is aligned with Regal Springs’ commitments
Top: Regal Springs, Lake Toba, Indonesia Above: The Svensk Lax Sä ffl e site, Sweden Opposite: The Hendrix Gene� cs Ormsary site; Eggs, Roslin Ins� tute
to develop premium Naturally Be� er Tilapia and to have a posi� ve impact on the sustainability of Tilapia aquaculture”, said Laurent Develle, Global Head of Sustainability at Regal Springs, on announcing the deal.
Tilapia accounts for around 10% of the global fi nfi sh aquaculture, produc� on with almost 7 million tonnes worldwide, and is a signifi cant and sustainable source of protein for human consump� on.
Morten Rye, Director of Gene� cs at Benchmark Gene� cs, says: “We are proud to assist Regal Springs in realising their ambi� ous goal for the company’s gene� c work. In addi� on to be� er animal welfare, gene� c improvements also will lead to higher produc� on effi ciency and reduced costs.”
Bivalve mollusc producers can also benefi t from gene� c and breeding exper� se. Earlier this year Orkney Shellfi sh Hatchery, the mul� -species aquaculture hatchery supplying premium shellfi sh products to the restora� on market, announced a breakthrough in screening techniques to detect the lethal Bonamia pathogen.
The discovery was the result of a collabora� ve eff ort with aquaculture gene� cs specialist Xelect. The innova� on uses a highly sensi� ve DNA test to sample the waters oysters live in to iden� fy the presence of the pathogen, with no need for the oysters to leave the hatchery whilst tes� ng takes place or be destroyed posttes� ng – which was previously the only way to check for Bonamia.
Dr Nik Sachlikidis, who is also Managing Director of hatchery technology developer Ocean On Land Technology and BVI-based spiny lobster producer Caribbean Sustainable Fisheries, said ahead of presen� ng the fi ndings at the NORA (Na� ve Oyster Restora� on Alliance) 4 Conference: “With the help of the Xelect team, 2021 has seen Orkney Shellfi sh Hatchery achieve a major breakthrough in the hatchery management of the long-researched disease of Bonamia ostreae, a parasi� c infec� on that is lethal to shellfi sh. This innova� on takes some amazing recent academic work and applies it to the commercial hatchery se� ng. Ul� mately, this process allows us as a hatchery to manage our broodstock more eff ec� vely to control for Bonamia in seed produc� on and is an enormous step forward in the produc� on of disease-free na� ve oyster seed.” Xelect has also been ac� ve interna� onally – for example, working with Martec, a leading player in Central American aquaculture, on the fi rst commercial Spo� ed
Rose Snapper gene� c programme (for more on this see “What’s New”, page 60).
The company is also working with aquaculture business Fresh Studio and feed company De Heus in Myanmar in a major new ini� a� ve to boost food security in the region.
The “Powering Aquaculture Progress” project is a fi ve-year public-private ini� a� ve to modernise the aquaculture industry.
Fresh Studio and Xelect, with funding from De Heus and the Netherlands Government, collabora� ng on the development of two fl agship hatcheries and an applied R&D farm. These will act as the basis for a modern, centralised breeding programme, which will supply high-quality broodstock for seed produc� on at hatcheries throughout the country.
Xelect is currently working with Fresh Studio’s team on the ground to develop the gene� c tools required to kickstart a centralised programme for rohu carp (Labeo rohita) – a very popular regional fi sh that has been largely neglected in gene� c terms. With a dedicated breeding programme, the project could develop a sustainable supply of fi sh that are ideally suited to local condi� ons, benefi � ng from faster growth and increased disease resistance.
Fresh Studio’s Country Manager for Myanmar, Floortje Jacobs, comments: “Since 2019, Powering Aquaculture Progress is one of the largest projects with foreign direct investment in Myanmar and is set to make improvements along all steps of the aquaculture supply chain. While improved technologies and knowledge for farmers are the main focus, we soon realised that we will not reach produc� vity improvements if we don’t analyse and work on the gene� c quality of the fi sh as
well. Luckily, Xelect could help us with this.”
Xelect Breeding Programme Manager Lidia de los Rios Perez adds: “The initial phase of the project consists of the development of a genetics tool kit that will enable us to analyse the existing populations. In the second phase we will evaluate the genetic diversity and inbreeding levels of the available stocks and identify a suitable founding population for use in a future breeding and genetic improvement programme. The Xelect team are proud to be collaborating on this significant project.”
Meanwhile, the Xelect lab team have also recently taken delivery of a second Illumina MiSeq ™ genetic sequencer. This addition to the company’s custom-built facility allows Xelect to double its sequencing capacity.
Xelect says: “The MiSeq is the workhorse of our operation, allowing us to quickly and cost-effectively analyse tissue samples to get the genetic insights we need to run some of the most advanced breeding programmes in aquaculture.”
Rachael Wilbourn, Xelect’s Laboratory Manager, led the final setup. She says: “Given that over the last year alone we’ve analysed over 50,000 samples, this is a big step forward for us. We’re taking on new customers all the time, and it’s vital that we can provide them with the analysis and guidance they need as quickly as possible. For us, the MiSeq is an excellent platform, as it provides us with a rapid and cost-effective genotyping solution, as well as the flexibility to adapt our SNP [single nucleotide polymorphism] panels to meet our customers’ needs. Having a second sequencer is going to give us the capacity to not only increase our sample throughput, but also the opportunity to expand our research and development capabilities.” FF
Opposite from top: Fresh Studio, Myanmar; Morten Rye; Lidia de los Rios Perez; Fresh Studio This page from top: The Xelect lab team; Rachael Wilbourn, Xelect
