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Broodstock

Broodstock

Managing Welfare of Broodstock

Aquatic Broodstock Stress & Welfare Management

AQUI-S® can help manage stress and improve welfare in broodstock. When stress is experienced by brood animals, it has significant implications on broodstock survival, fecundity, gamete quality, gamete viability and the survivability of the progeny.

AQUI-S Broodstock flow diagram 3.2

Stress has significant effects on quality. Under stressful conditions, fish must choose between putting energy into increasing or maintaining growth, continuing to survive by fighting disease and pathogens or putting energy into reproductive effort. The most common sacrifices involve reproductive output including the fecundity of the animal and quality of the eggs and sperm.

Stress affects egg quality. Under stressful conditions, female broodstock will choose between allocating energy for growth and survival or energy for reproduction. The most common negative trade-off involves reproductive performance including diminished egg quality and viability.

Stress affects sperm quality. Stress in male broodstock causes major reductions in the sperm motility (duration of activity) and velocity (swimming speed) resulting in a reduced ability to fertilise the eggs.

Stress affects progeny. Stress in brood animals results in reduced survival and viability in developing and developed progeny. Parental stress results in skeletal deformities, abnormal skin pigmentation, organ failure and scale defects. Progeny with deformities generally show increased mortality rates, reduced growth and increased susceptibility to disease.

Critical AQUI-S® Sedation Steps

AQUI S Welfare

There are several critical steps where AQUI-S® should be used for stress management.

These include:

  • Broodstock Handling
  • Broodstock Injection
  • Broodstock Stripping

What Next:

Conduct a bench trial or contact us for more information on this application.