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Paradigm shift in Danish trout breeding - implementation of genomic selection

Paradigm shift in Danish trout breeding - implementation of genomic selection

  • Title: Paradigm shift in Danish trout breeding - implementation of genomic selection
  • Funded by: GUDP
  • AU Project manager: Professor Mogens Sandø Lund, Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics
  • Business partner: AquaSearch farm Aps
  • Project period: 01-01-2017 - 31-12-2020
  • Grant: DKK 6,361,475

Project description:

Danish aquaculture in general, and Danish breeding fish farming in particular, are characterised by a high veterinary health status. This has meant that trout eggs from Danish breeding farms are popular. The veterinary safety limits the use of the breeding potential as breeding farms are closed herds. For breeding companies such as AquaSearch Farm Aps, the challenge is the difference in the environment the fish are reared in and the environment they are produced in.

Due to the risk of transmitting diseases, it is not possible to select and transfer fish between the production and rearing environment. There is a need for methods to relate to this while maintaining the high veterinary health status. The purpose of this project is to develop genomic tools for Danish breeding fish farms. 

By the use of genomic selection, reference stocks in the production environments can be established where phenotyping and genotyping are carried out, while the breeding animals are selected in the rearing environment based on genotyping. In this way, you can select breeding fish based on their production traits while avoiding specific diseases in the breeding herds and, a continued competitiveness can be maintained.