The use of microsatellite DNA profiling to evaluate performance traits for single families and selected strains of cod

Institute of marine Research (IMR) have carried out genetic studies on Atlantic cod for several decades. The large scale cod juvenile production facility at Parisvatnet in Øygarden near Bergen, has been the basic tool providing high quality cod juveniles for large scale enhancement projects as well as controlled farming experiments. In recent years Parisvatnet has also been the major supplier to the cod farming industry in Norway. The rapid development of cod farming require optimal chose of broodstock fr om wild populations, and testing and evaluation of production traits are essential for eveloping an optimal selective breeding strategy. Knowledge of genetic differences between wild populations supplemented with information of life history characteristic s/performance traits, are also needed for evaluation of genetic impact caused by escapement in the future cod farming industry. At present, IMR has established several cod strains including four wild populations and several farmed strains. IMR is participating in two EU projects where microsatellite DNA profiling har successfully been used for family assignment. This approach will be implemented in testing of performance traits of family groups from selected wild and farmed cod str ains. A mixture of families from various strains will be tested in parallel under intensive farming conditions in Tromsø (Norwegian Insdtitute of Fisheries and Aquaculture Research) and Hordaland (Aquaculture Station Austevoll), including commercial farms . The experiment will provide fundamental information for future development of selective breeding strategy in cod. In addition, the results can be used in evaluation of potential genetic effects in natural cod populations resulting from escapement from f uture cod farming industry.