Abstract
IntroductionA hatchery-reared silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) program has been intensively carried out since 2010 to enhance the rapidly declining fisheries production in the middle Yangtze River. However, only a little information regarding the effectiveness of the enhancement program has been reported. In this context, this study investigates on an enhancement program through monitoring the efficacy based on parentage analysis.MethodsA total of 1,529 hatchery-reared fish and 869 larvae were sampled from the middle Yangtze River in 2016 and 2017 and were genotyped by thirteen microsatellite loci. Based on the results of parentage analysis the larvae were divided into three populations: (1) larvae population with both parents being hatchery-reared fish (=R), (2) larvae population with only a male or a female parent being hatchery-reared fish (=H), and (3) larvae population with no hatchery-reared fish parent (=W). The following analyses were also carried out: (1) assessing the contribution of hatchery-reared offspring to larval resources, and (2) evaluating the genetic effect of stock enhancement on the wild population.ResultsIn total, 10.37% and 11.56% of larvae were identified as the offspring produced by hatchery-reared fish released in 2016 and 2017, respectively. In 2017, some of the larvae were assigned unambiguously to hatchery-reared fish released in 2016. In terms of the number of offspring produced, the hatchery-reared fish have shown significant variations. No significant differences were found among all the larvae populations concerning genetic parameters for diversity. High levels of genetic diversity of all larvae populations were obtained. Low FSTvalues obtained from pairwise FST analysis, as well as the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), revealed high genetic structural similarity among all the larvae populations. The genetic composition of the W larvae population in 2017 was different from that of all other larvae populations (all larvae populations in 2016, and R and H larvae populations in 2017), as demonstrated from the results of STRUCTURE and PCA analyses.ConclusionIt was demonstrated that hatchery-reared fish are successful in producing the offspring in the natural environment during multiple years, which might assist in increasing the abundance of larvae. The hatchery-reared fish had variations in terms of the success rates on reproduction. Also, the hatchery-reared enhancement program had no significant effect on the genetic diversity or the genetic structure of wild populations. However, the genetic component of the W larvae population in 2017 was changed as compared to 2016, which was not due to the hatchery-reared enhancement program for silver carp. This could be due to flooding, but the specific causes need further studies. Our results clearly show the necessity to continuously inspect the genetic impact of the enhancement program so that historical information can be utilized for further research.
Highlights
A hatchery-reared silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) program has been intensively carried out since 2010 to enhance the rapidly declining fisheries production in the middle Yangtze River
A hatchery-reared enhancement program for the silver carp has been conducted in the middle Yangtze River since 2010, which releases matured fishes to the river to increase the number of larvae
The T -test results from this study showed that the body length/weight had no significant effect on the recapture rate of hatchery-reared fish
Summary
A hatchery-reared silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) program has been intensively carried out since 2010 to enhance the rapidly declining fisheries production in the middle Yangtze River. Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), one of the four major Chinese carps (the other three species are black carp—Mylopharyngodon piceus, grass carp—Ctenopharyngodon idella and bighead carp—Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), is an essential economic fish in China Their largest native habitat is the Yangtze River which has provided a high commercial catch during the 20th century (Wu, Wang & Cao, 1993). A hatchery-reared enhancement program for the silver carp has been conducted in the middle Yangtze River since 2010, which releases matured fishes to the river to increase the number of larvae.
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