Scottish firm Landcatch aims to “revolutionise” salmon breeding and help one of the country’s economic success stories.
Landcatch, based at Ormsary in Argyll, said yesterday its “groundbreaking” research had led to technology that would allow scientists to take the next step in predicting which fish have the best performance by looking at their DNA.
At the heart of it are SNP “chips” – SNP stands for single nucleotide polymorphisms – that are used to analyse variations in DNA sequences and identify genes associated with disease resistance and other traits.
Genomic selection using SNP chips is routinely applied in crops, cattle, pigs and chickens. Salmon-breeding specialist Landcatch claims to be the first company to apply the technique to one of the Scottish food and drink industry’s biggest export successes.
It is hoped the breakthrough will help to protect farmed salmon against the menace of sea-lice, which cost Scottish fish farmers tens of millions of pounds a year to control.
Globally, the parasite is estimated to be costing the industry more than £300million.
Landcatch’s work also involved Edinburgh University’s Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Stirling University’s Institute of Aquaculture, Glasgow University and genomics analysis companies Edinburgh Genomics and Affymetrix UK.
The technology means scientists are now able to get a detailed, digital-quality description of the genetics of individual fish.
Landcatch genetics director Alan Tinch said: “This development takes selective breeding programmes to a whole new level.
“It is an extension to the selective breeding of salmon, allowing more accurate identification of the best fish to create healthier and more robust offspring.
“We have now achieved a strategic goal in salmon breeding. We have a far clearer picture of how individual fish will perform in our customers’ farms.”
It is another landmark for Landcatch, which in 2007 announced it had become the first aquaculture company to pinpoint a gene-controlling resistance to a disease – infectious pancreatic necrosis – posing a major threat to Atlantic salmon.
The company later proved that sea lice resistance is inherited, subsequently producing juvenile fish which were less susceptible to the parasite.
Landcatch – owned by Netherland-based Hendrix Genetics – supplies genetic services and Atlantic salmon eggs and smolts to the aquaculture industry globally.