The Tasmanian and South Australian Pacific oyster industries are successful industries that have achieved the first stage of domesticating oysters by being totally reliant on hatcheries for spat. However, in comparison to most land-based primary industries, they have made little use of a powerful tool for improving its productivity, namely selective breeding (other than for shell colour). The project is needed to take advantage of this opportunity to improve profitability and increase production, however, this must be done in a way that does not compromise the industry's genetic base. This should increase the international competitiveness of these industries as they become more export-oriented.
Sustainable benefits in the performance of oysters will be achieved by linking: a) well planned and monitored breeding programs (supervised by geneticists) to, b) the University of Tasmania's (UTAS) experience in working with industry to produce and evaluate groups of oysters on leases, and c) CSIRO's cutting edge technology for assessing the genetic trends in offspring.
A key outcome will be the creation of some 40 family groups. These will be hard won but will provide a breeding platform for applying the results of the current CSIRO/UTAS research (through the CRC for Aquaculture) on genetic markers eg sections of DNA, that could indicate commercially-favourable performance characteristics (meat to shell ratio and efficiency of food usage).
The establishment of these breeding lines should also improve the chances of maintaining genetic diversity; the diversity within a line periodically can be enhanced by crosses between lines. The retention of genetic diversity in southern Australian stocks is a great asset for the Australian industry but its maintenance cannot be taken for granted.
In terms of the FRDC Strategic Plan, this project is attractive both from commercial and genetic conservation perspectives, it is quite feasible, focusses on genetics in aquaculture, is highly collaborative, directly involves industry's resources, and involves broad, ongoing, industry consultation.
