School for Resource and Environmental Studies POTENTIAL SOURCES OF OVERWINTER MORTALITY OF POND-REARED UNDERYEARLING STRIPED BASS (Morone saxatilis) Kare Tonning MES Candidate School for Resource and Environmental Studies Dalhousie University
Obstacle: Overwinter Mortality Problem: high overwinter mortality in underyearling striped bass stocked in man- made ponds. Fish are reared at Dal-AC, then transferred to North River Fish Farm (NRFF). Larger fish suffer negligible mortality. Hypothesis: lipid quality found in pre-winter diet is having an effect on overwinter survival.
Trial 1: Winter 2016-17 3 Diets, 6 Replicates of 30 fish (approx. 50g) 2 Ponds (NRFF) Periodic Sampling, 6 cages raised (3 diets X 2 ponds) February, March, April Survivorship assessed, all fish euthanized Tissue samples collected Tissues collected for analysis Sampling in Feb., 2017.
Trial 1: Survival Results
Ongoing Trial: Winter 2017-18 5 ponds (over 3 sites) Diet x 2 Body Size Smalls ≤ 12cm Larges > 12cm Water Quality Parameters Grading fish before transferring to ponds.
Thank you! Acknowledgements Supervisors: Dr. J. Duston and Dr. P. Tyedmers Committee Member: Dr. S. Budge Collaborator: Dr. S. Colombo Colleagues: Juan Manriquez-Hernandez, Paul MacIsaac, Edyta Ratajczyk, Shanwei Qiu, and Vitoria Daitx. Industry partner: Mike Cameron, North River Fish Farms Limited and the Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia