Remarkable Achievements in Aquaculture Breeding History
The demand for seed for aquaculture is rigously rising, but most broodstock comes from wild sources or commercial ponds, risking disease and harming biodiversity. Selecting broodstock from genetic programs is key to improving seed quality, ensuring economic efficiency, and protecting biodiversity.?
Globally, more than 100 breeding programs have been implemented across various aquatic species. These breeding programs focus on major farmed species such as carp (8 programs), tilapia (27 programs), Atlantic salmon (13 programs), and rainbow trout (13 programs).??
Salmon and Rainbow Trout?
Many breeding programs have successfully enhanced growth traits. The rainbow trout program saw a 30% growth increase after six generations. In Salmon could achieved a 50% growth rate increase after ten generations. In addition to growth, many experiments have been conducted to improve fillet pigment, DHA content, resistance to sea lice, amoebic gill disease, resistance to columnaris disease, and resistance to bacterial cold water disease.?
Tilapia?
The breeding program to improve growth in the GIFT tilapia line achieved remarkable results compared to crossbreeding, improving growth rates by 77%–123%. With an 11% genetic improvement per generation, this tilapia line is considered the best among tilapia species (Dunham et al., 2001). Besides growth, many studies have been conducted to increase fillet yield in tilapia. Research by Rajesh Joshi et al. (2019) found a relative increase of 89% in fillet weight and 17% in fillet yield.?
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Black Tiger Shrimp?
Moana’s black tiger shrimp breeding program is a highly successful disease-free initiative. Starting with over 1,400 shrimp collected from seven Asian locations, the program created the disease-free G1 generation. Trials in Vietnam for the G7 generation showed that these shrimp reached 30 grams in just 130 days, compared to 160 days for wild shrimp. Thailand and India. Now at the G16 generation, Moana’s black tiger shrimp is a key global supplier of seedstock for black tiger shrimp farming.?
Whiteleg Shrimp??
With global production of 5.5 million tons, the Pacific white shrimp is the most researched crustacean, focusing on growth and disease resistance, as well as improving tail ratio and cooked meat color. Paradoxically, in major shrimp-producing countries, most broodstock is still imported. Each year, to maintain an output of around 1 million tons, Vietnam need to imports over 230,000 broodstock shrimp, accounting for approximately (87%) from companies such as SIS, Moana (USA), CP (Thailand)....?
To address quality concerns and supply chain disruptions, many private and state entities in Vietnam have invested significantly in developing domestic broodstock lines using molecular and quantitative genetics. Since 2017, organizations like Research Insitution in Aquaculture 3 and Viet Uc have successfully produced around 40,000 high-quality broodstock shrimp for the domestic market.??
Saltwater Tolerant Tra Catfish: A Solution to Climate Change?
The catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) is a key aquaculture species in Vietnam, with an export value of $1.61 billion in 2021. The catfish farming industry in the Mekong Delta (?BSCL) is being affected by saltwater intrusion due to climate change.?
To adapt, a research project by Can Tho University has successfully developed a brackish water catfish strain (10 ppt), which has a survival rate 20% higher and a growth rate 1.25 times faster than conventional catfish. The time to reach market size has been shortened to 7 months, helping reduce production costs.?
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References:?
Houston, R. D., Bean, T. P., Macqueen, D. J., Gundappa, M. K., Jin, Y. H., Jenkins, T. L., ... & Robledo, D. (2020). Harnessing genomics to fast-track genetic improvement in aquaculture. Nature Reviews Genetics, 21(7), 389-409.?
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