A team of aquaculture researchers has made a significant breakthrough with the identification of two new genetic markers that show greater resistance to a bacterial infection in Atlantic salmon.
In a project backed by the Sustainable Aquaculture Centre (SAIC) and led by AquaGen Scotland, with partners from the University of Stirling's Institute of Aquaculture, DawnFresh Farming and Cooke Aquaculture Scotland, the consortium has been exploring the genetics that determine whether fish are resistant to Flavobacterium psychrophilum – a bacterium which can lead to health issues in salmon fry.
“The interim results of this R&D project are highly encouraging and point towards a new, sustainable approach to tackling a common health issue reported in young salmon,” said SAIC chief executive, Heather Jones.
To identify the two genetic markers, more than 4,000 fish from AquaGen were tested for more than 70,000 genetic markers using a lab-based model which mimics the natural infection route.
The next stage of the research programme is to conduct field trials at one of Cooke Aquaculture's sites using salmon eggs specifically selected by AquaGen. It is hoped that in the event of a natural outbreak of the bacterial disease being detected, these fish can be tested to validate the effect of the genetic markers.
