Project Number: 6225-31630-005-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Nov 12, 2004
End Date: Nov 11, 2009

Objective:
Develop and refine year-round production of hybrid striped bass fingerlings through photothermal, dietary, and culture manipulation. Increase hybrid striped bass production efficiency through physiological control of stress, gender, and hormonal growth factors. Increase hybrid striped bass production efficiency by refining nutrient requirements, manipulating feeding strategy and diet nutrient density, and reducing fish meal and oil content. Develop genetically superior Morone species.

Approach:
Evaluate photothermal manipulation and hormonal stimulation to induce off-season spawning of Morone sp. Evaluate the effects of stocking density, feeds and feeding strategies, and environmental conditions on survival and growth of hybrid striped bass and fingerlings in tanks/ponds. Characterize the physiological stress response to production practices with respect to environmental, nutritional, and genetic factors. Characterize gender-related production characteristics and develop methods of sex reversal to produce monosex populations. Determine conditions that increase growth-promoting actions of growth factors such as growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factors. Determine the nutrient digestibility of traditional and alternative feed ingredients to replace fish meal. Determine or refine nutrient requirements for different life stages and production systems. Use phenotypic and genotypic characters to evaluate new strains for economically revelant traits. Identify phenotypic and molecular differences among stocks of white/striped bass. Implement a selective breeding program to produce progeny with desired traits. Develop molecular markers for economically relevant traits to aid selective breeding efforts.