Effects of Dietary Fatty Acids on Overwinter Survival of Underyearling Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis)

To achieve the goal of commercializing striped bass aquaculture in Nova Scotia, the obstacle of high (up to 100%) overwinter mortality among young-of-year fish needs to be overcome. Mortality is restricted to fish that are under one year old (underyearlings, <100g) transferred to cages in freshwater ponds in the late fall. Larger bass (>500g) suffer negligible mortality. Potential factors for such low survival rates identified through four years of trials by researchers from Dalhousie include low oxygen levels and exhaustion of lipid energy reserves. This project uses the concept of homeoviscous adaptation to test the hypothesis that changing the proportions of dietary saturated and unsaturated fats will affect overwinter survival. Homeoviscous adaptation proposes that proper cell function depends on cells remaining fluid no matter the temperature of the fishs environment. TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Peter Tyedmers

Student:

Kare Tonning

Partner:

Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Fisheries and wildlife

University:

Program: