Optimalisering: VIRGIN salmon- a sustainable solution for coexistence but not mixing of farmed and wild salmon strains
Informations
- Funding country
Norway- Acronym
- -
- URL
- -
- Start date
- 1/1/2017
- End date
- 12/31/2021
- Budget
- 975,527 EUR
Fundings
| Name | Role | Start | End | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIOTEK2021 - Biotechnology for value creation | Grant | - | - | 975,526 EUR |
Abstract
Salmon farming is a major industry in Norway, with an annual value over forty billion. A bottleneck in the salmon farming industry is the crossing of escaped farmed salmon with wild populations. To solve this problem, the industry use sterile salmon in production. Sterile salmon is currently produced through triploidisation of salmon embryos. But triploid salmon are generally more sensitive to suboptimal production environment leading to several welfare problems in fish. Therefore, the food authority has been very critical to this production method. As previously shown by our research group, we can make sterile salmon by preventing the formation of germ cells. In this project, we have created a genetically sterile broodstock fish with germ cells, which in turn can produce 100% sterile offspring for production. This approach solves the problems of genetic introgression and premature maturation in farmed salmon and ensures stable production of 100% sterile fish, and thus represents a significant commercial potential. Since this type of salmon is produced through targeted mutations, they are with the current legislation considered to genetically modified organisms (GMO) in Norway and EU. In some countries, such as Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay and Chile, Japan and Australia the definition of GMOs have been revised and fish subjected to the type of genetic editing described in this project will not be considered GMOs. It is expected that similar regulatory changes the will happen in other countries soon, including in Norway, where currently a more modern GMO legislation is soon to be evaluated. The commercial potential of developing a new method to produce sterile salmon is great since it will solve some of the key challenges in salmon farming. Potential customers for this product are breeding companies that wants improved methods to produce sterile salmon. The Norwegian salmon farming industry can have an annual saving of more than 1 billion from project.