Abstract

The yield from fisheries and aquaculture production has risen dramatically over the last few decades, with rising demands to meet the needs of a growing world population that is also consuming more seafood per capita. Aquaculture products have, in recent years, also overtaken tonnage obtained from wild fisheries. This is particularly true for finfish species such as Atlantic salmon. However, the marine lifecycle stage for Atlantic salmon aquaculture requires ocean-based net pens, which introduces environmental vulnerabilities that can negatively affect production. Of particular concern is the ability of the fish to tolerate rising seawater temperatures in the face of climate change. One way of tackling this challenge is to incorporate selective breeding for Atlantic salmon families that display greater tolerance to elevated seawater temperatures. The goal of this study was to determine the genomic heritability of seawater temperature tolerance in Atlantic salmon and to investigate the genetic architecture of this trait for more effective broodstock management. We report a moderate genomic-based heritability for seawater temperature at mortality in Atlantic salmon (0.208 ± 0.041) with a favourable correlation between growth traits (body mass and fork length) and seawater temperature at mortality. Our results also show that seawater temperature at mortality is a polygenic trait, with no significant quantitative trait loci identified. The moderate genomic heritability for seawater temperature at mortality suggests that this trait could be included in Atlantic salmon breeding programs. Importantly, the favourable correlation between growth traits and seawater temperature at mortality suggests that selection for seawater temperature tolerance would not have a negative impact on growth in this population. No single quantitative trait locus for seawater temperature at mortality was identified, suggesting that genomic selection will be required to achieve an increased tolerance to seawater temperature in this population.

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