Breeding
We are experts in shellfish and finfish breeding – from programme design to the development of innovative and novel technologies.
Breeding
We are experts in shellfish and finfish breeding – from programme design to the development of innovative and novel technologies.
Cawthron Institute’s world-leading advanced finfish and shellfish breeding research and technologies now underpin a significant portion of New Zealand’s aquaculture production. We use technologies ranging from quantitative genetic analysis techniques that calculate breeding values, to the cryopreservation of juvenile shellfish, to optimise performance and build the resilience of our seafood industry.
Shellfish Breeding
Cawthron’s shellfish breeding methods and technologies are pioneering, having resulted in Pacific oyster and Greenshell™ breeding that underpin a significant portion of national aquaculture production. These programmes have achieved increased mussel productivity and produced disease-resilient Pacific oysters.
We produce shellfish ‘families’ in unique CUDLS (Cawthron Ultra Density Larval System) tanks at our custom-built aquaculture park in Nelson, before transferring them to aquaculture farms where they are on-grown. The top performing families are used for production stock, supporting further generations of breeding.
Finfish Breeding
Our breeding research and services extend to finfish. We work closely with the New Zealand salmon industry to optimise the performance of farmed species. Cawthron Aquaculture Park is home to a Finfish Research Centre that supports the delivery of several finfish research programmes. Our research aims to transform the industry’s approach to selective breeding of finfish to boost production efficiency, leading to greater returns and sustainable environmental management.
Breeding Technologies
Cawthron has developed a range of innovative and novel breeding technologies to support our research and the development and implementation of breeding programmes. These technologies include the latest tools for quantitative genetic analysis (calculating the ‘breeding value’ of families and individuals) through to modern genomic approaches using DNA to trace an individual’s family tree or predict its performance based on genetic similarity to other top-performing individuals.
Cawthron holds expertise in the cryopreservation of sperm, eggs and larvae of shellfish, some of which can be applied to finfish. This technology directly supports selective breeding and enables shellfish hatcheries to produce juveniles (spat) year-round.