Hatchery performance in a major rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum, 1792) seed production area of Turkey

Abstract

This study aims to determine the production characteristics and performance of rainbow trout hatcheries in Seydikemer, Muğla, Turkey where over half of the total production of eyed eggs and juveniles take place. For this purpose six hatcheries with different production scales were selected and coded A, B, C, D, E and F (with capacities of 60, 15, 5.6, 4, 0.95 and 0.6 million juveniles per year, respectively). From each hatchery, 20 females were selected and their egg qualities (egg number, diameter and weight, fertilization, eyed egg, hatching, swim-up fry and survival rates at 120 days after hatching) and juvenile growth rates were monitored until the 120th day after hatching under each farms own conditions. The sperm characteristics of 10 broodstock males from each hatchery were also examined. Although fertilization and eyed egg rates were similar among the farms, hatching, swim-up fry, and survival rates at the 120th day after hatching differed significantly. The average eyed egg, hatching and survival rates (calculated from selected 20 females) were 72, 55, and 32%, respectively. While sperm characteristics except duration of motility (s), were significantly different among the farms, average sperm concentration (per ml), motility (%) and duration of motility (s) in the region were 11.8 × 109, 55.3, and 56.4, respectively. The best hatchery performance was observed in Farm A because of better records and management applications than in the other farms.