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Published in

MDPI, Animals, 6(11), p. 1800, 2021

DOI: 10.3390/ani11061800

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Summer Is Coming! Tackling Ocean Warming in Atlantic Salmon Cage Farming

Journal article published in 2021 by Ricardo Calado ORCID, Vasco C. Mota ORCID, Diana Madeira ORCID, Miguel C. Leal
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) cage farming has traditionally been located at higher latitudes where cold seawater temperatures favor this practice. However, these regions can be impacted by ocean warming and heat waves that push seawater temperature beyond the thermo-tolerance limits of this species. As more mass mortality events are reported every year due to abnormal sea temperatures, the Atlantic salmon cage aquaculture industry acknowledges the need to adapt to a changing ocean. This paper reviews adult Atlantic salmon thermal tolerance limits, as well as the deleterious eco-physiological consequences of heat stress, with emphasis on how it negatively affects sea cage aquaculture production cycles. Biotechnological solutions targeting the phenotypic plasticity of Atlantic salmon and its genetic diversity, particularly that of its southernmost populations at the limit of its natural zoogeographic distribution, are discussed. Some of these solutions include selective breeding programs, which may play a key role in this quest for a more thermo-tolerant strain of Atlantic salmon that may help the cage aquaculture industry to adapt to climate uncertainties more rapidly, without compromising profitability. Omics technologies and precision breeding, along with cryopreservation breakthroughs, are also part of the available toolbox that includes other solutions that can allow cage farmers to continue to produce Atlantic salmon in the warmer waters of the oceans of tomorrow.