11 minute read
Will the UK embrace gene editing?
Well bred
Technology and large RAS projects are driving demand for specialist services
BY ROBERT OUTRAM
At some point during 2023, the foothills of Mount Fuji in Japan will become the unlikely home for thousands of Atlan� c salmon.
Norwegian-based Proximar Seafood is hoping to make major inroads into the Japanese market with a land-based RAS (recircula� ng aquaculture system) farm, with an ini� al produc� on capacity of 5,300 tonnes.
Naturally, a RAS farm on that scale needs to ensure the health and quality of its stock, and Proximar has just signed a deal with Benchmark Gene� cs, which will supply salmon ova for Proximar’s hatchery. The fi rst delivery of salmon to the Japanese market is expected in 2024.
Joachim Nielsen, CEO of Proximar, says: “Proximar is on its way into the Japanese market, where quality is especially important. With the increasing number of land-based facili� es, ensuring quality eggs is a key issue. Our agreement with Benchmark Gene� cs ensures us stable deliveries throughout the year.”
Earlier this year, Benchmark won a similar contract to supply eggs for the interna� onal land-based aquaculture group Pure Salmon. The agreement covers the delivery of more than 80 million eggs per annum, at full capacity, and also formalises a strategic collabora� on in research and development.
Pure Salmon already operates a farm in Poland and the company is currently developing sites in Japan, France and the United States, with more planned in China, South-East Asia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The group is working towards a target produc� on capacity of around 260,000 tonnes of Atlan� c salmon annually.
And just last month, Benchmark also announced a contract with Ecofi sk to supply ova for a RAS farm to be located in Espevik in Tysvær municipality, Norway. The facility is set to be the biggest integrated land-based fi sh farm in Norway, Ecofi sk believes.
Delivery agreement starts in Q1-23, amoun� ng to over 25 million Atlan� c
Salmon eggs annually when the project is fully Salmon eggs annually when the project is fully developed. Benchmark Gene� cs will also contribute technical exper� se in the project phase and when the smolt and grow-out facility has come into opera� on.
Bjørn Inge Staalesen, the General Manager of Ecofi sk, says: “We have signed a gene� cs agreement at an early stage because we are concerned about biosafety and want to secure one of the most important input factors for the facility.”
The growth of investment in large-scale RAS salmon farming facili� es is crea� ng a new wave of demand for breeding and gene� cs services in aquaculture. It is not just that the large RAS farms require consistent quality, year round. The gene� c makeup of the stock also needs to be fi ne-tuned, to thrive in the RAS environment.
It is partly because of this demand that Benchmark has invested in a new incuba� on facility in Iceland. The new plant, which will have an annual capacity of 300 million Atlan� c salmon ova, is being built next to Benchmark’s exis� ng broodstock and incuba� on centre in Vogarvik, on the southwest coast of the country.
The new facility will hold 10.000 single incubators, each one containing eggs from a single female fi sh. The aim is to supply the growing global market for land-based salmon farming. It is planned to be in opera� on at some point this year.
Research into gene� cs is increasingly making use of cu� ng-edge informa� on technology, and the answer is as likely to be found in a computer analysis as in a test tube.
Xelect started as a spin-out from a leading aquaculture research group at the University of St Andrews in 2012, and now manages and supports breeding programmes on behalf of a number of
Opposite: Benchmark Iceland incuba� on centre; Benchmark SalmoBreed Stage1 This page from top left: Xelect lab tea; Jan-Emil Johannesen, Head of Benchmark Gene� cs, and Joachim Nielsen, CEO of Proximar signing the agreement on 2 July; Benchmark’s new plant in Iceland, under construc� on leading producers of farmed fi nfi sh, shrimp and shellfi sh worldwide.
Xelect uses “evolu� onary algorithms” to help analyse gene� c informa� on. An evolu� onary algorithm is a piece of computer code designed to fi nd the An evolu� onary algorithm is a piece of computer code designed to fi nd the best possible solu� on to a given problem by making use of the same sorts of best possible solu� on to a given problem by making use of the same sorts of processes that allow natural popula� ons to adapt to their environment. The processes that allow natural popula� ons to adapt to their environment. The process is one of Darwinian selec� on – diff erent scenarios are created, the process is one of Darwinian selec� on – diff erent scenarios are created, the weakest solu� ons are eliminated, and the more viable op� ons are kept, mutatweakest solu� ons are eliminated, and the more viable op� ons are kept, mutated, then challenged and selected again. ed, then challenged and selected again.
Since today’s computers can process 42.5 trillion calcula� ons per second, technologies that used to be unaff ordable and imprac� cal are now much more technologies that used to be unaff ordable and imprac� cal are now much more widely accessible. Xelect works with customers to fi nd the best possible breedwidely accessible. Xelect works with customers to fi nd the best possible breeding combina� ons to develop the traits that ma� er to them, while avoiding the ing combina� ons to develop the traits that ma� er to them, while avoiding the age-old trap of inbreeding. age-old trap of inbreeding.
The company analyses the gene� cs of the fi sh or shellfi sh, gathering data. By analysing samples the team can create a cutdown version of each animal’s gene� c code, allowing them to see its family structure and, in some cases to
New revolutionary products now available
Rainbow trout eggs
Genetic marker assisted breeding in commercial egg production
Together with our research partners AquaSearch has identified genetic markers related to the following traits in rainbow trout: • No second winter maturation • Improved resistance against: - Vibriosis - Furunculosis - IPN - White spot disease and - Rainbow trout fry syndrome Produced on request for customized improvement of already superior genetics.
Percentage morbidity 100 80 60 40 20 0
p<0.0001 p<0.0001
p=0.1718
QQ Qq qq
Genotype V. anguillarum challenge trial with significantly reduced morbidity in genetic homocygotes as well as heterocygotes.
Top: Pure Salmon Poland Above: The Proximar Seafood facility Right: Salmon ova check for “func� onal markers” (sec� ons of the gene� c code that are known to correspond with par� cular traits). That gene� c informa� on is then mapped against real world performance data, to provide a picture of which fi sh are thriving or have the best gene� c poten� al.
That’s when Xelect’s custom-built so� ware, Op� Mate, gets to work. Op� mate runs millions of poten� al ma� ng combina� ons, and assesses each one to see how likely it is to give progress on key traits, whilst protec� ng against inbreeding. The so� ware can even plan and reorganise breeding tanks for batch-spawning species, such as bass and bream.
Even with modern compu� ng power, this is no small task – to run Op� mate on some of the larger breeding programmes can take up to 24 hours and requires tens of gigabytes of data to be analysed. That’s a level of sophis� ca� on that could barely have been imagined just fi ve years ago, but which means Xelect can now make this service available even to smaller producers for a very modest cost.
Senior Breeding Programme Manager Marie Smedley works closely with her customers on the day to day running of their opera� on. She says: “The power of so� ware like Op� mate is incredible, but it’s ul� mately useless if it doesn’t translate easily to prac� cal ac� on on the farms. With most of our customers we’ll provide support on the ground at key � mes, such as stripping seasons, and I can even switch on my laptop and quickly fi nd the next best candidate in seconds if, for example, something happens to one of the fi sh we’ve selected’.
Xelect’s Senior Gene� cist, Dr Mark Looseley, predicts that the technology is s� ll only in its infancy. He says: “This really is just the start. Improved processing speeds will allow us to look at many more scenarios with much lower turnaround � mes, ensuring that breeding plans can be adapted easily when needed. We will con� nue to add op� ons to the so� ware that refl ect breeding constraints that are specifi c to the biology of the species, or the set-up of the hatchery to make sure that bespoke op� mised breeding plans are available to all producers.”
Meanwhile, a debate was restarted earlier this year when the UK Government aired proposals to loosen the restric� ons on managing gene� cs. Under European Union legisla� on, gene� c selec� on is allowed, and this is currently undertaken by the likes of Benchmark and Xelect, as well as Aquasearch Ova which specialises in rainbow trout.
The EU does not permit the crea� on of genetically modifi ed organisms (GMO), where gene� c material from another individual (or even another species) is spliced into organism’s gene� c make-up.
Post-Brexit, the UK Government has the power to set its own rules, and in January the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Aff airs (DEFRA) opened a consulta� on on gene edi� ng (GE), a halfway house between selec� on and gene� c modifi ca� on. With GE, the aim is to produce changes that would be achievable through planned or natural selec� on – but faster.
DEFRA says that GE could help improve resistance to disease for animals and crops, improve growth and produc� vity and even make our food healthier to eat. Launching the consulta� on in January, at the Oxford Farming Conference, Environment Secretary George Eus� ce said: “Gene edi� ng has the ability to harness the gene� c resources that Mother Nature has provided, in order to tackle the challenges of our age.”
The Na� onal Farmers Union was broadly posi� ve but warned that care should be taken to ensure that liberalising the law on gene� cs in the UK does not make it harder to sell to the EU.
Other groups are not so keen, however. In 2018, Emma Hockridge, Head of Policy at the Soil Associa� on (which represents organic producers) said: “Scien� fi c research has long shown that these new gene-edi� ng technologies give rise to similar uncertain� es and risks as GM always has, and we would urge the government to ensure the UK stays aligned with the recent European Court of Jus� ce (ECJ) ruling that classed gene edi� ng as a form of GM… government should treat gene edi� ng with great cau� on and as promised, uphold the precau� onary principle a� er Brexit.” The RSPCA has also objected to any relaxa� on of the rules, arguing that the eff ects of GE are uncertain and could have an adverse eff ect on animal welfare. DEFRA had an� cipated publishing a response by June of this year, but this has been delayed and a spokesperson told Fish Farmer: “The aim is to publish this summer; unfortunately a date is yet to be set but it will be in due course.”
Whatever is decided could have huge implica� ons for aquaculture, but for now it’s a case of “watch this space”. FF
