The Southern (Carolina), Great Lakes, Nebraska, and a few other strains of yellow perch were used by the Ohio State South aquaculture facility at Piketon Ohio to hybridize the selected yellow perch strains to produce a "super perch". The study is basically over and offspring were distributed to selected farms to monitor growth rates. I don't think the full report has been published yet. A summary of the study is noted below. A couple of the growers told me they did not see a large difference, but did see some growth benefits in growth rates of the hybrids compared to the well developed domesticated Great Lakes strain of yellow perch.
Some research reports about the perch hybridization are below:
The Ohio Genetic Improvement of Farmed-fish Traits (O�GIFT) Program started in 2004, and is experiencing significant progress: Eight strains of YP were obtained from eight states and stock evaluations in genetic variation and growth have been completed. Approximately 2,000 genetically superior broodfish were selected as the base breeding population for the long-term selective breeding program. To date, eight improved lines of perch have been produced and distributed to farmers and a research facility for initial commercial-scale tests. Current research data show that the improved lines grow 18.3%-39.8% faster than unimproved fish. Forty-five new microsatellite markers have been developed, and a method for parentage analysis of YP has been established.
Brown, B., H. P Wang, L. Li, G. Chandler, and G.K. Wallat. 2007. Yellow perch strain evaluation I. Genetic variance of six broodstock populations. Aquaculture 271:142-151.
Reddish, J. M, Zapata, I., Wang, H. P., Wick, M. 2012. Comparative proteomics of regional strains of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) Aquaculture (in review).
Wang, H.P, H. Yao, G.K. Wallat, Paul O�Bryant, and D. Rapp. 2012. From markers to markets: Genetic improvement of yellow perch through commercial-scale marker-aided cohort selection for growth. Aquaculture (in revising).
Last edited by Bill Cody; 02/02/13 11:39 AM.
