| Program 1 (Production Innovation) Prawn Research Projects |
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2009/724 - Genetic technologies to support a transformation to profitability and competitiveness in F. merguiensis and P. monodon. __________________________________________
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Increasing the Profitability of Penaeus monodon Farms via the Use of Low Water Exchange and Microbial Floc Production
About the Project The aim of the project is to increase the profitability of P. monodon farms by significantly reducting production costs whilst ensuring environmental sustainability. Project Objectives 1. Evaluate the effectiveness of different carbon sources for microbial floc formation in commercial ponds. 2. Determine the nutritional benefits of microbial flocs to P. monodon reared in ponds and quantify the associated reduction in feed costs. 3. Quantify the effects of low water exchange, microbial floc production systems on the reduction in farm nutrient discharge and overall effects on farm profitability. ___________________________________________________ |
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Increasing Seedstock Production of Domesticated Giant Tiger Prawns (Penaeus monodon) Through Increased Male Fertility
About the Project If domesticated P. monodon broodstock can be produced economically at a commercial scale, Australian prawn farmers will be in a position to significantly improve farm yields and profitability through selective breeding. Developing protocols enabling a pond-rearing phase within P. monodon broodstock production has potential to greatly reduce costs of broodstock production, allowing more This project seeks to further our understanding of the development of the male reproductive tract and examine the environmental and dietary factors which are most likely candidates for compromising the fertility of the pond-reared males. The project aims to determine ‘if’ and ‘how’ a pond-rearing phase can be used play a role in producing commercially-viable numbers of P. monodon broodstock. Seedstock production of broodstock reared in clear water systems has also been constrained by poor egg fertilisation rates. This project also aims to determine the degree to which egg fertilisation is correlated with sperm count and morphology, and to develop a practical measure of male fertility which can be used by industry. Project Objectives 1. Quantify relationships between male sperm count and morphology and egg fertilisation rates. 5. Compare the reproductive tract development of males reared in tanks under ideal broodstock rearing conditions to conditions involving low temperature stress and suboptimal diet. ___________________________________________________ |
 Prawn - Aquaculture |
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Commercial Production of All-Female Reproductivity Sterile Triploid Giant Tiger Prawns (Penaeusmonodon) : Assessing their Commercial Performance in Ponds
About the Project The Australian Prawn industry needs a mechanism by which to confer genetic protection of seedstock with elite genotypes so that their commercial benefits can be made available to the entire domestic industry through the sale of elite seedstock for on-growing. To-date triploidy is the only available technology that is near commercialisation that provides a high level of genetic protection through reproductive sterility. Triploidy has the added benefit of resulting in female populations, with females naturally growing larger than males. This attribute should provide further improvements on harvest yield beyond the performance. Triploidy has the added benefit of resulting in female populations, with females naturally growing larger than males. This attribute should provide further improvements on harvest yield beyond the performance provided from the elite genotypes alone. If this project demonstrates that total harvest yields are substantially improved through stocking triploids as predicted, triploid induction technologies will be of direct benefit to (and can be utilised by) the entire Australian industry as wild spawned females are also larger than males. This provides direct benefits to the industry independent of accessing the elite genotypes being produced by the four largest Australian Prawn producers, providing immediate benefits for any Australian farm or hatchery producing seedstock. Project Objectives 1. To develop P. monodon triploid heat shock induction systems that allow all eggs spawned from any one female to be exposed to heat shock at the same time. 3. To develop commercially relevant P. monodon triploid induction protocols for the Australian industry that accommodate constraints such as a natural spawning cycle (e.g. not reversed light as with experimental stocks), proximity of heated water to spawning tanks and systems available to add heated water to apply the shock). __________________________________________________ |
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Genetic Technologies to Support a Transformation to Profitability and Competitiveness in F. merguiensis and P. monodon.
About the Project This project will assist in developings methods to track family pedigrees and more effectively limit inbreeding. Project Objectives
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This page was last updated: 22nd December 2009 |
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