SBIR-STTR Award

The proposed project seeks to develop superior striped bass broodstock by comparing the performance of different crossbred striped bass (Canada x Maryland, and Florida x Maryland) versus a pure strain (Maryland). This will be accomplished by combining the proven performance of the 1995, 1996 and 1997 yearclass fish (males from Canada, Florida and Maryland strains) with the more domesticated qualities of the CAF Maryland strain to produce at least 24 families of crossbred and purebred striped bass. The effects of domestication will also be examined, in a preliminary way, by executing an equal number of matings with F1 and F2 females. Each breed and family will be reared in triplicate tanks in a recirculating aquaculture facility under the same environmentally controlled conditions for one year. Comparisons will be made between strains and families for the following performance characteristics; growth rate, feed conversion efficiency, survival, and dress-out percentage.

Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications of Research:
:The identification of superior genetic strains and families of striped bass offers one of the most rapid and cost effective means of improving performance of production stocks of striped bass and hybrid striped bass. Identified superior broodstocks are expected to be immediately useful to the striped bass and hybrid striped bass industry. In Phase II we plan to breed unrelated, selected individuals to produce a founding stock of superior performing F3 striped bass while maintaining a randomly selected population as a control. Another of Phase II's objective is to hybridize F1 selected white bass and striped bass individuals for commercial grow-out, and to demonstrate gains made by this genetic selection and hybridization program.

This project will enhance the competitiveness of the U.S. aquaculture industry by bringing to fruition seven years of prior work that has resulted in the creation of a genetically diverse founder populations of F1 through F3 performance striped bass, improved reproductive techniques and a comprehensive set of microsattellite DNA markers. We will accelerate the commercial application of our work by : (1) exchanging and crossbreeding broodstock between three leading facilities to safeguard genetic resources and to enlarge the effective population size available for breeding, (2) breeding and rearing large numbers of and domestic, select striped bass families for further selection for enhanced production and growth performance, (3) undertaking commercial-scale performance trials of striped bass and hybrid striped bass in tank and pond environments, (4) utilizing genotyping to track the pedigree of the best- performing progeny for selection, and (5) preserving striped bass semen as a means of safeguarding irreplaceable genetic resources. The combination of large-scale breeding evaluation trials, pedigree tracking and selection will enable us to retain commercially significant number of broodstock while exerting a high selection differential. The participation of multiple laboratories, experiment stations and industry will ensure the relevance of results and set the stage for supplying fish breeders with superior germplasm. ANTICIPATED RESULTS & POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH This project will result in the development of commercially significant populations of select striped bass broodstock with superior reproductive and growth performance. Future commercial breeding of these broodstock should enable growers to produce fish that are 20% to 30% larger at harvest than current stocks. The availability of larger fish will enhance the competitive position of the aquaculture industry by reducing production costs, increasing market demand and improving ex-farm pricing. This project will enable industry to sustain an ongoing breeding program with rapid, broad-based commercial diffusion years ahead of when comparabl