Aquaculture is growing to meet the needs of a growing world population , and aquaculture genetics must move quickly to help producers meet the expectations of stakeholders. To responsibly introduce animals that harness the power of genetic improvement into commercial production systems, the farmed fish should be sterile . The Atlantic salmon industry is an example where concerns over mixing of escapee farmed fish with wild relatives has disrupted industry growth.
The ability to produce sterile fish for commercial grow out provides a solution to concerns over genetic contamination from farmed fish that might escape and mate with wild relatives. This solution may allow expansion of farming concessions and the ability to focus on genetic improvement innovations in broodstock, mitigating regulatory concerns . Farming sterile fish would also provide benefits in improved growth and feed efficiency, and reduced aggression and stress . Finally, farming sterile fish may open up farming areas where concerns over establishment of feral populations prevents expansion.
Genome editing offers the opportunity to make targeted changes in the genome, introducing genetic variation that will result in rapid and substantial improvements in performance, health and sustainability. We describe here a genome editing approach to generating 100% sterile fish for commercial aquaculture.