Of interest is reid's idea to make triploid chinook to help protect natural wild fish but still have hatcheries pumping out big numbers. I don't agree with a lot of DC Reid's wild ideas but this one is actually not bad?




Full article here: http://www.timescolonist.com/technology ... story.html

Actually, I believe this one is "really bad"!

I would be very careful promoting “Triploid Chinook”? It sounds great to have the larger fish - which is the norm, but there are some serious downsides there! So serious, the state of Washington put a moratorium on them a few years back. I don’t think those concerns have been resolved! I haven't followed up on that issue for quite awhile, but the last I heard there was a lobby to "farm" them outside the 3 mile state control of both Alaska and Washington, as neither state wants anything to do with it, as it was deemed "Triploids" would disrupt the spawning process and kill off the wild runs?

But, here again... If BC doesn't do something fairly quick, I don't believe they are going to have to worry about a "wild" fishery anyway, it will be gone!

hey charlie,

I'm not sure they would grow larger, nor do I think that would be the intention of doing such a thing. I assume they would go see as normal and return like the others but be simple sterile.

It would remove the excuse of hatchery fish ruining the genetics of the wild fish since they wouldn't be able to spawn. I guess they could compete for space with wilds, but with the low numbers of wilds I'm not sure that would happen either.

I've just never heard the idea and thought it was interesting.

Google it and start reading! There have been studies done on it for years!

Yes, they will grow larger, every study agrees with that. Yes, if released they will go to sea as normal and compete with all the others for food, so that increases the pressure on their food supply. Yes, they will return like the others and yes, they will be sterile. But if you read "all the articles and studies", you find that when spawning the "dominate male", which is the larger, is the one that fertilizes the eggs... as the dominate male will be a "triploid" that will NOT be a good thing.

Competing for dinner is bad, but isn't the worst part! Think about 200,000 - 1,000,000 dominate males (due to their size) in the spawning area... “Shooting Blanks”! Not good!

Now on the good side, there is currently a study in Japan, that is quite interesting! They are implanting eggs in triploids, in a surrogate program. I read it about a month or so ago, but don't have the link handy!

How about this for a statement!

PLEASE! "DO NOT SUPPORT" “INDIGENOUS SALMON TRIPLOIDS” UNTIL WE ARE SURE OF THE OUTCOME!