WHY WAS THE RESEARCH UNDERTAKEN?

The research was undertaken to develop novel techniques for Sydney Rock Oyster (SRO) hatchery breeding. These techniques have great potential to increase the reliability of hatchery runs for SRO breeding and commercial multiplication. SRO triploid oysters have a number of benefits for industry and the triploid component in this project was undertaken due to industry expressing interest in accessing triploids.

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WHAT ARE THE MAJOR FINDINGS/OUTCOMES SO FAR?

• There are some real challenges to produce tetraploid SROs. Excellent progress has been made by The University of the Sunshine Coast to identify a spawn-inducing factor.  This could change the way that we create families of SROs and allow us to move away from strip spawning which will greatly improve breeding reliability. The University of the Sunshine Coast have also determined a procedure that fast-tracks hatchery conditioning of broodstock.

• There has been great progress by the University of Newcastle to understand loss of fertility in SRO oocytes and how oocytes age. This provides information on how gametes can be preserved during spawn runs.

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HOW IMPORTANT WILL THESE FINDINGS BE IMPORTANT TO INDUSTRY?

This research is crucial for hatchery operators and hatchery managers involved in breeding SROs. It has the potential to transform SRO breeding runs. Hatcheries will be able to preserve key broodstock lines instead of sacrificing them for strip spawning. This research will be published for application to other bivalve species.

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Please see video below for the research summary.