An Industry-Scale Mass Marking Technique for Tracing Farmed Fish Escapees

Warren‐Myers, Fletcher; Dempster, Tim; Fjelldal, Per Gunnar; Hansen, Tom; Swearer, Stephen E.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0118594

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Offspring of all successfully spawned females (27 of 30) showed no effect of isotope marking on egg survival or larval deformity rates, which is consistent with other studies that have marked with stable isotopes at concentrations equivalent to 2 µg g −1 female or less (Thorrold et al 2006, Cuif et al 2014, WarrenMyers et al 2015b. No effect of marking on harvest size fish was found, which is consistent with results observed in fish that have been vaccinated with stable isotopes and grown to 5 kg (Warren-Myers et al 2015a). Based on our results and previous research (Williamson et al 2009a), transgenerational marking with stable isotopes of Ba and Sr is a safe, effective method for mass marking farmed fish.…”

Section: Broodstock Health Hatchery Mortality Larval Deformities Ansupporting

confidence: 91%

“…This is the first reported successful 6-mark isotope combination using the transgenerational marking technique. Only 1 other study has successfully marked fish with a 6-isotope combination (Warren-Myers et al 2015a), but marks were delivered by an injection of stable isotopes directly into salmon parr, not via broodstock. We achieved 100% marking success for concentrations lower than 2 µg g −1 female when using the 4 Ba isotopes, but not the 2 Sr isotopes, with all Ba isotopes achieving 100% marking success at 0.02 µg g −1 female when injection date and spawning date were at least 3 wk apart.…”

Section: Marking Successmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These methods involve the use of stable isotopes to code the otoliths of fish with unique isotope fingerprint marks during the hatchery stages of production (e.g. de-Braux et al 2014, Warren-Myers et al 2014, 2015a. To date, otolith marking with enriched stable isotopes of Ba and Sr has been highly successful in many species, and marks have been created using a range of delivery techniques, for example, via injection (Thorrold et al 2006, Williamson et al 2009b, Warren-Myers et al 2014, 2015a, immersion (Munro et al 2008, Woodcock et al 2011b, de Braux et al 2014, Warren-Myers et al 2015b or food supplementation (Woodcock et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The potential for identifying the origin of escaped farmed salmon with stable isotope marking is clear; between 7 and 63 mark combinations were created when Atlantic salmon parr were successfully marked with a combination of 6 isotopes mixed with a vaccine and delivered via injection (Warren-Myers et al 2015a), and salmon embryos were marked with a combination of 3 isotopes during their egg-swelling phase immediately after fertilisation (Warren-Myers et al 2015b). Another method with the potential to create additional multiple mark combinations with enriched stable isotopes in farmed salmon is transgenerational marking (Thorrold et al 2006, Almany et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For hatcheries, this means that no extra labour or protocol steps would be required to mark fish from the day of stripping onwards. Marking prior to stripping may also be an advantage over marking during the egg-swelling (Warren-Myers et al 2015b), larval (de Braux et al 2014 or parr stages (Warren-Myers et al 2015a), as it would ensure that all fish are marked prior to any movement of eggs or fish within or between hatcheries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mass marking farmed Atlantic salmon with transgenerational isotopic fingerprints to trace farm fish escapees

Warren‐Myers

Dempster²,

Fjelldal³

et al. 2015

Aquacult. Environ. Interact.

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Farmed fish sometimes escape and enter natural environments, where they mix with wild fish populations and can have negative effects. Marking farmed fish is a prerequisite for the identification of the origin of escapees and for guiding technical investigations to determine the cause of an escape event and improve farming practices. We tested transgenerational marking with enriched stable isotopes to assess its effectiveness as an accurate, feasible and cost-effective marking method for Atlantic salmon Salmo salar grown in sea-cage aquaculture. We injected a combination of 7 stable isotopes ( Mg) at 4 different concentrations (2, 0.2, 0.02 and 0.002 µg g −1 broodfish) into the abdominal cavity of female Atlantic salmon broodstock. Marking success was assessed in the otoliths of the resulting yolk sac larvae using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Marking was 100% successful with Ba isotopes at concentrations as low as 0.002 µg and for Sr isotopes at 2 µg, when at least 3 wk had passed between the day of injection and spawning. Our results demonstrate that 63 unique fingerprint marks can be made at a low cost using enriched isotopes of Ba (US$ 0.0002−0.002 mark ). Compared to other mass marking techniques, transgenerational marking of farmed salmon is an economically feasible method for tracing escapees with similarly low costs to delivery by egg bathing or vaccines, and an order of magnitude or more lower than other conventional marking methods.

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Section: Broodstock Health Hatchery Mortality Larval Deformities Ansupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Marking Successmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mass marking farmed Atlantic salmon with transgenerational isotopic fingerprints to trace farm fish escapees

Warren‐Myers

Dempster²,

Fjelldal³

et al. 2015

Aquacult. Environ. Interact.

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Identification of Hatchery‐Reared Lake Sturgeon Using Natural Elemental Signatures and Elemental Marking of Fin Rays

Loeppky

McDougall²,

Anderson

2020

N American J Fish Manag

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Stock enhancement programs often involve the introduction of hatchery‐reared fish into wild environments, with the goal of increasing the abundance of a particular stock. To measure the success of stocking efforts for depressed populations, hatchery‐reared individuals must be distinguishable from naturally spawned fish, potentially many years after release. Biological tags are attractive due to their ability to batch‐mark whole cohorts in a cost‐effective manner, with minimal disruption to hatchery procedures and reduced handling stress inflicted on individuals during the marking process. Elemental marking may occur naturally or via deliberate manipulation of the concentration of specific elements to create recognizable elemental signatures in the hard structures of fish (e.g., fin rays and otoliths). In this study, elemental signatures in the fin rays of known hatchery‐released Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens (ages 1–7) were quantified via laser ablation (LA) inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) to assess whether the ambient water chemistry in a groundwater‐fed hatchery would create an elemental signature that facilitated discrimination of hatchery‐reared individuals from those naturally spawned in the wild. The concentrations of divalent trace elements, particularly Mn, within the first growth band of hatchery‐reared fish were significantly different from those of wild conspecifics, allowing us to accurately classify hatchery‐ versus wild‐spawned individuals with 99% success. In addition, we conducted a preliminary experiment to test the validity of two separate 24‐h immersions in 86Sr and 137Ba (immersions were conducted 30 d apart) to induce multiple combination marks in the fin rays of juvenile Lake Sturgeon. Fin rays collected 60 d after the second immersion were analyzed for isotopic ratios via LA ICP‐MS, and results indicated that elemental marking at both time points was achieved with 100% success. Induction of a combination of isotopic signatures could enable hatcheries to track the success of families or stocking groups within a single year‐class or across multiple year‐classes.

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Otolith mass marking techniques for aquaculture and restocking: benefits and limitations

Warren‐Myers

Dempster

Swearer

2018

Rev Fish Biol Fisheries

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The use of farmed and restocked fish to supplement the worldwide human consumption of fish, recreational fishing stocks, and conservation efforts, is growing at a rapid rate. Yet, monitoring the benefits of using hatchery-raised fish for supplementation is lacking, often due to hatcheries not marking or tagging all fish prior to release, despite a range of easy to apply, cost effective and accurate mass-marking methods being available to mark farmed and restocked fish en masse. Here we review otolith marking techniques that have the capability of mass marking millions of hatcheryreared fish that are, or could be, used for monitoring and compliance purposes. The otolith mass marking methods consist of otolith thermal marking and a range of otolith chemical marking methods (tetracyclines, alizarin compounds, calcein, strontium chloride, stable isotopes of Ba and Sr, and rare earth elements). We assessed and compared marking technique in terms of 1) ease of application, 2) cost of application, 3) mark retention and detectability, and 4) fish welfare. In addition, we determine the suitability of different otolith marking techniques for mass marking entire hatchery populations whether it be for restocking purposes, or for identifying and tracing escapees from aquaculture facilities. We conclude that although some techniques have restricted use due to regulations, the majority of otolith mass marking techniques are simple, easy to apply, cost effective and highly suitable for long term monitoring of hatchery produced fish.

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An Industry-Scale Mass Marking Technique for Tracing Farmed Fish Escapees

Cited by 11 publications

References 39 publications

Mass marking farmed Atlantic salmon with transgenerational isotopic fingerprints to trace farm fish escapees

Mass marking farmed Atlantic salmon with transgenerational isotopic fingerprints to trace farm fish escapees

Identification of Hatchery‐Reared Lake Sturgeon Using Natural Elemental Signatures and Elemental Marking of Fin Rays

Otolith mass marking techniques for aquaculture and restocking: benefits and limitations

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