Insights from the early generations of the Swedish rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) breeding program

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aimed to gain insights about the status of the Swedish breeding program through studying key phenotypic traits. In total, 133 and 73 full-sib families were formed during the reproductive seasons of 2016 and 2019, respectively. Growth-related recordings were available from two occasions: ∼ 9 and 24–27 months post-hatch. A preliminary descriptive analysis of the fecundity and early embryo survival identified substantial differences in favor of G0 (year class 2016) which was partly explained by the fact that first-time 3-year-old spawners were used in G1 (year class 2019). Moderate to high heritability values (0.23–0.49) were obtained for body length and weight across both time points and generations. Furthermore, the prediction accuracy of the estimated breeding values was ∼0.65, while the expected genetic gain was 36 g per year. Overall, our results demonstrate the positive performance of the Swedish rainbow trout breeding program.