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In the fall of 2001, 50,000
Atlantic salmon from a May 2001 spawning population were
treated with the SuperSmolt® process at a hatchery on the
west coast of North America for a period of 41 days. The
SuperSmolt® treated smolt were transferred to a marine site
on October 18, 2001 at an average weight of 43 grams. A Control group of 100,000, from a November 2000 spawning population, were transferred 5 days later having an average weight of 75 grams.
On July 21, 2003 fish from both the SuperSmolt® and Control groups were harvested. The first 1,000 fish
harvested from both groups on that day were closely examined.
Table 1 summarizes the harvest data from these findings.
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The most significant result from this trial is seen when a comparison between the transfer
weights and harvest weights is made. As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 below, despite a
difference in transfer weight of 57%, the SuperSmolt® treated group out-performed the
controls with regard to growth, and were eventually harvested at a weight that averaged over
9% more than that of the Controls.
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Because SuperSmolt® treated fish are fully prepared for full-strength seawater, they begin
feeding immediately upon transfer, allowing the fish to quickly take advantage of favorable
marine growout conditions. Figure 3 highlights the initial feeding activity of the SuperSmolt®
treated fish from this trial.
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| The vigorous feeding that SuperSmolt® treated fish have constantly shown in field trials allow the fish to 'close the gap' on the Controls, and as we see from the harvest results of this trial, actually surpass them!
In addition to weighing an average of 9% more than the Controls, a comparison of the weight distribution of fish between the two groups shows that more fish from the SuperSmolt® group were actually harvested at larger weight grades, as seen in Figure 4. Note, because we are interested in the effect the SuperSmolt® process has on weight distribution at harvest, we verified the weight distribution findings of the initial sample size of 1000 by later evaluating the distribution of all the fish harvested from the trial (38,513 SuperSmolt® treated fish, 71,913 Controls). This comparison appears in Figure 5 and substantiates the data from the smaller sample size.
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By providing for more fish in the premium (6+kg) grade classes,
the use of SuperSmolt® in this trial brought a significant revenue boost of
US $2.59/fish, as we see in Table 2.
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Multiplying this difference of US $2.59/fish over the total amount of harvested fish (38,513) treated with SuperSmolt®, additional revenue of over US $99,000 is realized for the producer, roughly 15 times the cost of the SuperSmolt® application.
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Benefits of SuperSmolt® Illustrated in West Coast North America Trial
Expand Hatchery Capacity
In the trial the SuperSmolt® group were successfully transferred to sea at an average weight
of 43 grams. The ability to transfer relatively small smolt that are seawater-ready provides
the opportunity to increase hatchery throughput without investing in additional capacity.
Earlier S0 Transfers
By transferring smolt earlier in the fall the producer is able to take advantage of more
favorable early fall marine growing conditions.
Improve Growth
Despite being transferred to sea at 57% of the weight of the Controls, the SuperSmolt®
treated fish fed more vigorously and grew faster than the Controls. As seen from the harvest
data analyzed, the SuperSmolt® group were on average 9% larger than the Controls and had
a superior condition factor.
Increase Revenue
In addition to more premium grade fish, as well as fish weighing 9% more on average than the
Controls, there were over 60% more fish from the SuperSmoltt® group in the
higher grade classes (6+kg) at harvest. This difference amounted to
$2.59/fish, or approximately US $99,000 for the 38,513 fish treated.
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