Design and partial build of the Milford Laboratory CUDLS hatchery to support the Northeast Oyster Breeding Center

Authors: WIKFORS, GARY - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); SENNEFELDER, GEORGE - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); REDMAN, DYLAN - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); DIXON, MARK - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); GUY, LISA - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); SMITH, BARRY - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); CAPOMOLLA, DOMENICK - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); Proestou, Dina; RHEAULT, ROBERT - University Of Rhode Island

Submitted to: Aquaculture Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/22/2022
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: N/A

Technical Abstract: The Northeast Oyster Breeding Center (NOBC) was established by an August 2022 Interagency Agreement between USDA/ARS in Kingston, RI and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Milford, CT. The primary goal of the NOBC is to apply the tools of contemporary genetics, specifically genome-assisted and family-based breeding, to the development of oyster lines bred for success in the diverse growing conditions between New York and Maine for propagation in commercial hatcheries. Fundamentally, the main role of the Milford Laboratory is to provide hatchery facilities and husbandry expertise to implement breeding plans formulated by ARS scientists. These breeding plans will require up to 100 crosses to be made supplying small batches of seed for performance evaluations by commercial grower partners throughout the region. Extensive renovations are being made to spaces in the Milford Lab to enable production of many small batches of oyster seed. Secure broodstock holding has begun in the Tank Farm Building, conditioning will be done in existing tray systems, strip-spawning will be done in existing hatchery rooms, and larvae will be reared in a new Cawthron Ultra-Density Larval System (CUDLS) fed by Industrial Plankton microalgal bioreactors. Setting systems are under development, and a commercial bottle-upweller has been purchased to grow seed to 2-5 mm before going to partner farms. A subset of seed from each cross will remain in the Milford Tank Farm for possibly use in subsequent breeding cycles. Although we have never done this before, we are obtaining essential advice from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science Aquaculture Genetics & Breeding Technology Center and the Cawthron Institute in New Zealand. A first, “shakedown” breeding cycle is planned for 2023.