Recent Advances in Animal Breeding Applied to Aquaculture

Selective breeding is an important tool for aquaculture production, to improve efficiency, animal health, and sustainability. Animal breeding is a highly technical field applying computational analysis and modelling, genomic information, and high throughput data from imaging and sensor data on biologically relevant traits. A successful breeding program needs to select the useful technologies and combine them effectively to obtain the genetic improvement that is needed in the specific species and production environment.

Course focus:
We will teach about the latest technologies that are currently implemented or are close to application during lectures given by experts in these fields. While working on a practical case, participants will discuss with the experts how to apply these technologies to discover their potential impact in breeding programs. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss the future needs of aquaculture and how these can be addressed by selective breeding during an industry forum.

List course objectives

Learn about recent technological developments in animal breeding, apply this knowledge in group work and discussion with experts to design a breeding program that serves the needs for the future of aquaculture production.

List learning goals

- Provide participants with practical knowledge on the recent advances in livestock breeding programs that can be applied to aquaculture
- Understanding the industry needs for breeding programs in aquaculture
- Practical experience in designing a breeding program with state of the art technologies.

General Information

Target Group	PhDs, postdocs, aquaculture breeding professionals
Course level	In-depth, post graduate
Group size	A minimum of 20 and a maximum of 30 participants
Course duration	3 days
Prior knowledge	Basic principles of animal breeding
Home work/ self- study	https://www.edx.org/learn/animal-breeding/wageningen-university-research-genetic-models-for-animal-breeding
Language	English
Credit points	0.9 ECTS (Note: 1 ECTS is equal to 28 hours of study
Name lecturers	Organizers and lecturers Hans Komen, Arjan Palstra, John Bastiaansen   Lecturers from - Wageningen University and Research    - Animal Breeding and Genomics    - Aquaculture and Fisheries    - Animal Production Systems - INRAe, Montpellier, France - HCMR, Heraklion, Crete, Greece - Sintef Ocean AS, Trondheim, Norway
Teaching method	Lectures, Case study, Discussion groups, Forum discussion
Venue	Wageningen University campus, Wageningen, the Netherlands. Note: Room and building will be communicated to registered and confirmed participants about one week before the start of the course.

Program

Tuesday 10/9	Block 1:  Fish breeding programs
13:00-17:00	Lecture:  Integrated breeding programs making groups, intro case Presentations - Mix BLUP and genomic selection - Acuracy and costs of genomic selection - Managing  genetic diversity Discussing with experts (two rounds) Group work, implementation in BP Summaries from groups + wrap-up

 

Wednesday 11/9
9:00-12:00	(Block 2:  Disease resistance) Lecture: breeding for disease resistance Presentations - Breeding against disease prevalence - QTL mapping of resistance traits - Natural antibodies Discussing with experts (2 rounds)   Group work, implementation in BP Summaries from groups
12:00-13:00	Lunch
13:00-17:00	Block 3:  Efficient fish growth Lecture: feed efficiency in fish Presentations: - Measuring feed efficiency - Yield and waste - Resilience (predictable growth) Discussing with experts (2 rounds) Group work, implementation in BP Summaries from groups
17:30 – 19:00	Dinner
19:00	Block 4:  Industry panel Welcome Introductions: aquaculture breeding for 2040 - Open ocean and on-shore (Vincent Ehrenst, Kingfish zeeland) - Affordable protein (Steve Moran, Victory farms) - Premium products (Joep Kleine Staarman, Barramundi Asia) Panel discussion Drinks

 

Thursday 12/9
9:00-12:30	Block 5: Deep phenotyping Lecture: models for deep phenotyping Presentations: - Swimming physiotyping - High throughput imaging - Oxygens sensors Discussing with experts (2 rounds) - Physiotypes in the breeding program Group work, implementation in BP Demonstration automated phenotyper Summaries from groups
12:30-13:30	Lunch
13:30-14:30	Farewell lecture "Impact of breeding on aquaculture"

 

Fee (Iincludes lunch and coffee/tea during the course days, and includes dinner and drinks in the evening of Wednesday September 11^th. All other costs related to participation such as travel, accommodation and subsistence need to be covered by the participant.)

1) Reduced fee: PhD candidates of Wageningen University doing a Training and Supervision Plan (TSP)	€ 225
2) University fee: All other PhD candidates / postdocs and staff of Wageningen University	€ 450
3) External fee: All other participants	€ 700

Cancellation condition

You may cancel free of charge up to 1 month before the start of the course. After this date you will be charged with the full fee. Unless: 

• You can find someone to replace you in the course and supply the course coordinator with the name and contact information of your replacement. In this case you will be charged a €50,- cancellation fee.
• The organisers have the right to cancel the course no later than one month before the planned course start date in the case that the number of registrations does not reach the minimum of 20 participants.