Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have developed a method to sterilize farmed salmon and trout, the agency announced on Wednesday.
The method allows researchers to more efficiently and reliably produce fish with three sets of chromosomes, instead of the usual two. Fish with the extra set of chromosomes can’t reproduce, allowing energy spent on reproduction to shift to growth.
Also, farmed fish that are not capable of breeding with native populations can be stocked in natural waters.
For months ARS scientists have been working with the aquaculture industry on genetic methods to more efficiently produce fish that grow faster on less feed and can’t reproduce in the wild.
The scientists are also trying to determine whether the fish with the three sets of chromosomes perform well in terms of production traits such as growth to market size, stress tolerance and disease resistance.
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