Dec 4
Dylan Fraser
Dalhousie University
Interbreeding between farmed and wild, endangered Atlantic salmon: conservation conundrum?
Abstract
Societies are increasingly faced with the challenges of achieving sustainability by balancing socio-economic and environmental concerns. Aquaculture, for example, was intended to offset the pressures that humans have put on wild, declining fish populations, but its ongoing development requires assessments of its environmental impacts and how these can be mitigated. One example is the recurrent accidental escape of farmed fishes from sea cages that may then interbreed with their wild relatives. In this talk, I evaluate the concern that such interbreeding may result in reduced fitness in farmed-wild hybrids and ultimately lead to an erosion of wild adaptation. My evaluation takes place in the Northwest Atlantic, where intensive Atlantic salmon farming occurs in the same region that harbors several divergent groups of small, at-risk wild Atlantic salmon populations. My evaluation is broad-brushed in the ‘eco-evolutionary’ context of farmed-wild interbreeding that it considers, in terms of: (i) where and at what rate farmed escapes occur; and (ii) the variety of trait differences that likely exist between farmed salmon and wild salmon from contrasting wild populations (e.g. behavioural, life history, morphological, physiological). I then discuss how the potential regional conflict between the goals of farming and preserving intraspecific diversity raises tough questions about how we achieve the latter, and suggest some future means for doing so.
Bio
Dr. Fraser received a BSc in Fisheries Biology at the University of Guelph in 2000, and a PhD in evolutionary biology at Laval University (2000-2005). He is currently an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Jeffrey Hutchings at Dalhousie University, and will be commencing an Assistant Professor position in conservation biology at Concordia University in 2009.
Aquatic & Fishery Sciences Home
The University of Washington is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at least 10 days in advance at 206-543-6450/V, 206-543-6452/TTY, 206-685-7264 (FAX); dso@u.washington.edu.
webmaster@fish.washington.edu
Updated