scholarly journals Selection against individuals from genetic introgression of escaped farmed salmon in a natural population of Atlantic salmon

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Wacker ◽  
Tonje Aronsen ◽  
Sten Karlsson ◽  
Ola Ugedal ◽  
Ola H. Diserud ◽  
...  
2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (10) ◽  
pp. 2488-2498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sten Karlsson ◽  
Ola H. Diserud ◽  
Peder Fiske ◽  
Kjetil Hindar ◽  

Abstract Farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) escape from net pens and enter rivers to spawn, potentially resulting in genetic introgression and reduced fitness of wild salmon. Here, we quantify genetic introgression of farmed to wild salmon, using molecular genetic markers, in populations from 147 salmon rivers, representing three-quarters of the total wild salmon spawning population in Norway. For 109 rivers with adult modern samples and sample sizes of 20 or more, the average level of farmed genetic introgression was 6.4% (median = 2.3%), with a range between 0.0% and 42.2%. Fifty-one of these rivers showed significant farmed genetic introgression when compared with historical reference samples. We observed a highly significant correlation between estimated farmed introgression and average proportion of escaped farmed salmon. We quantify levels of introgression as unweighted averages or weighted by population sizes, to compare geographical regions and to compare levels of introgression in rivers and fjords designated as locations deserving a high level of protection. We found a generally lower level of introgression in National Salmon Rivers and National Salmon Fjords subjected to formal protection by parliament. We conclude that farmed to wild genetic introgression is high in a large proportion of Norwegian salmon rivers, with the highest levels found in the most intensive areas of salmon farming. The extensive genetic introgression documented here poses a serious challenge to the management of farmed and wild Atlantic salmon in Norway and, in all likelihood, in other regions where farmed-salmon escape events occur with regularity


1991 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Gausen ◽  
V. Moen

We present data on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) which show that escaped farmed salmon enter Norwegian rivers in great numbers. Escaped farmed salmon comprised a substantial proportion of the mature salmon present on the spawning grounds in autumn. A potential for large-scale genetic introgression thus exists. The sex ratios, length distributions, and times of ascent of wild and farmed salmon differed significantly, reflecting major variations in biology and behavior. High proportions of farmed salmon (> 20%) were found only in rivers having fish farms situated closer than 20 km from the outlet.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 1151-1161 ◽  
Author(s):  
K A Glover ◽  
K Urdal ◽  
T Næsje ◽  
H Skoglund ◽  
B Florø-Larsen ◽  
...  

Abstract Norway is the world’s largest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon and is home to ∼400 rivers containing wild salmon populations. Farmed escapees, a reoccurring challenge of all cage-based marine aquaculture, pose a threat to the genetic integrity, productivity, and evolutionary trajectories of wild populations. Escapees have been monitored in Norwegian rivers since 1989, and, a second-generation programme was established in 2014. The new programme includes data from summer angling, autumn angling, broodstock sampling, and snorkelling surveys in >200 rivers, and >25 000 scale samples are analysed annually. In 2014–2017, escapees were observed in two-thirds of rivers surveyed each year, and between 15 and 30 of the rivers had >10% recorded escapees annually. In the period 1989–2017, a reduction in the proportion of escapees in rivers was observed, despite a >6-fold increase in aquaculture production. This reflected improved escape prevention, and possibly changes in production methods that influence post-escape behaviour. On average, populations estimated to experience the greatest genetic introgression from farmed salmon up to 2014 also had the largest proportions of escapees in 2014–2017. Thus, populations already most affected are those at greatest risk of further impacts. These data feed into the annual risk-assessment of Norwegian aquaculture and form the basis for directing mitigation efforts.


2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 506-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freya Keyser ◽  
Brendan F. Wringe ◽  
Nicholas W. Jeffery ◽  
J. Brian Dempson ◽  
Steven Duffy ◽  
...  

The escape of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) from aquaculture facilities can result in both negative genetic and ecological interactions with wild populations, yet the ability to predict the associated risk to wild populations has remained elusive. Here we assess the potential of a spatiotemporal database of aquaculture facility locations, production estimates, and escape events to predict the distribution of escaped farmed salmon and genetic impacts on wild populations in the Northwest Atlantic. Industry production data, reported escape events, and in-river detections of escaped farmed salmon were collected from across the Northwest Atlantic. Genetic estimates of impact were obtained using single nucleotide polymorphisms (95 loci) representing aquaculture and wild salmon throughout the region (30 populations, 3048 individuals). Both the number of escaped farmed salmon detected at counting facilities and the magnitude of genetic impacts were positively correlated with a cumulative spatial measure of aquaculture production. Our results suggest that the risk of escapees and genetic introgression from wild–farmed salmon interactions can be assessed using information on farm production characteristics. This represents a first step in predicting the impact of existing cage-based farms on wild Atlantic salmon.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Per Gunnar Fjelldal ◽  
Monica F. Solberg ◽  
Kevin A. Glover ◽  
Ole Folkedal ◽  
Jonatan Nilsson ◽  
...  

The production of salmonids in sea-cages has been developed for monoculture of the target species. However, we show here for the first time, that wild fish may enter sea-cages used for farming of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in Norway, out-grow the mesh size, and thereafter become permanently trapped. Within seven different sea-cages located in western Norway, eight different species of wild fish were identified; European eel (Anguilla anguilla), sea trout (Salmo trutta L.), cod (Gadus morhua), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), saithe (Pollachius virens), pollack (Pollachius pollachius), hake (Merluccius merluccius) and whiting (Merlangius merlangus). In the two most extreme cases, a 5 × 5 × 7 m cage with 311 farmed salmon (903 g) also contained 542 whiting (79 g), 77 haddock (43 g), and 5 cod (26 g), and a 12 × 12 × 15 m cage with 1695 farmed salmon (559 g) also contained 1196 haddock (35 g), 1115 whiting (31 g), 46 cod (23 g), 23 saithe (48 g), 15 pollock (22 g), 5 sea trout (54 g), and 2 hake (29 g). The present study thus demonstrates that aquaculture cages designed for monoculture may attract and effectively ‘trap’ wild fish. We did not investigate the frequency of this occurrence, and the ecological significance of these observations remains unclear. However, with the ever-increasing number of sea-cages used for global aquaculture, this is clearly a topic for further research.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elia Ciani ◽  
Kristine von Krogh ◽  
Rasoul Nourizadeh-Lillabadi ◽  
Ian Mayer ◽  
Romain Fontaine ◽  
...  

AbstractMale Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) display different sexual strategies, maturing either as parr during the freshwater phase (as sneaky spawners), or as post smolts following one or several years at sea. First sexual maturation (puberty) occurs at different times depending on environmental and genetic factors. To improve our knowledge on the timing (age and season) of first sexual maturation in Atlantic salmon male parr, we investigated pubertal activation in second generation farmed salmon from the Norwegian river Figgjo, reared under natural conditions of photoperiod and water temperature. Histological analysis, in combination with morphometric measurements, plasma androgen levels and pituitary gonadotropin gene expression analysis revealed that, as previously reported, some male parr initiated early sexual maturation in spring at one year of age. Interestingly, some male parr were observed to initiate sexual maturation already in autumn, six months after hatching (under-yearlings), much earlier than reported in previous studies. One-year old maturing males showed a low induction in gonadotropin levels, while under-yearling maturing males displayed a significant increase in fshb transcripts as compared to immature fish. Plasma testosterone, detectable also in immature males, increased constantly during testes development, while 11-ketotestosterone, undetectable in immature and early maturing males, increased during more advanced stages of maturation. A mild feminization of the testes (ovotestes) was detected in a subset of samples. This study brings new knowledge on the little investigated field of sexually maturing under-yearlings in Atlantic salmon. This is also the first study comparing the physiology of under-yearling vs one-year old maturing male parr, thus bringing new insights to the remarkable plasticity of Atlantic salmon puberty.


2014 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 997-1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geir Lasse Taranger ◽  
Ørjan Karlsen ◽  
Raymond John Bannister ◽  
Kevin Alan Glover ◽  
Vivian Husa ◽  
...  

Abstract Norwegian aquaculture has grown from its pioneering days in the 1970s to be a major industry. It is primarily based on culturing Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout and has the potential to influence the surrounding environment and wild populations. To evaluate these potential hazards, the Institute of Marine Research initiated a risk assessment of Norwegian salmon farming in 2011. This assessment has been repeated annually since. Here, we describe the background, methods and limitations of the risk assessment for the following hazards: genetic introgression of farmed salmon in wild populations, regulatory effects of salmon lice and viral diseases on wild salmonid populations, local and regional impact of nutrients and organic load. The main findings are as follows: (i) 21 of the 34 wild salmon populations investigated indicated moderate-to-high risk for genetic introgression from farmed escaped salmon. (ii) of 109 stations investigated along the Norwegian coast for salmon lice infection, 27 indicated moderate-to-high likelihood of mortality for salmon smolts while 67 stations indicated moderate-to-high mortality of wild sea trout. (iii) Viral disease outbreaks (pancreas disease, infectious pancreatic necrosis, heart and skeletal muscle inflammation, and cardiomyopathy syndrome) in Norwegian salmon farming suggest extensive release of viruses in many areas. However, screening of wild salmonids revealed low to very low prevalence of the causal viruses. (iv) From ∼500 yearly investigations of local organic loading under fish farms, only 2% of them displayed unacceptable conditions in 2013. The risk of eutrophication and organic load beyond the production area of the farm is considered low. Despite several limitations, especially limited monitoring data, this work represents one of the world’s first risk assessment of aquaculture. This has provided the Norwegian government with the basis upon which to take decisions for further development of the Norwegian aquaculture industry.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (5) ◽  
pp. 695-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan F. Wringe ◽  
Eric C. Anderson ◽  
Nicholas W. Jeffery ◽  
Ryan R.E. Stanley ◽  
Ian R. Bradbury

Hybridization between wild and escaped cultured Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) can threaten the stability and persistence of locally adapted wild populations. Here we describe the development and validation of a genomic-based approach to quantify recent hybridization between escapee and wild salmon in the western Atlantic. Based on genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) scans of wild and cultured salmon, collectively diagnostic panels were created for Newfoundland and the Canadian Maritimes. These panels were capable of both discriminating hybrids from nonhybrids and of correctly assigning individuals to hybrid class (i.e., pure wild, pure farm, F1, F2, and backcrosses) with a high degree of accuracy (Newfoundland 96 SNPs > 90%, Maritimes 720 SNPs > 80%). These genomic panels permit the assessment of the impacts of past and future farmed salmon escape events on wild populations and can inform the protection and conservation of wild Atlantic salmon genetic integrity in the western Atlantic.


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