Improved Broodstock Management

Broodstock management involves all the appropriate measures taken by the farmer to enable a captive group of fish to undergo reproductive maturation and spawning. Currently, hormonal manipulation is commonly used as a management tool in the cultivation of the targeted species (eel, salmon and sturgeons), either to enhance the efficiency of egg production or to increase spermiation, both facilitating hatchery operations. We will set up new protocols for both gamete development and spawning induction of broodstock, through development of alternative treatments (including environmental changes like photoperiod or temperature, or gonadotropin usage (homologous pituitary hormones, recombinant hormones, neuropeptides) for inducing gamete production.