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By Ridwan Ahmed and Mohamed Salem lab/ University of Maryland
Do you know that the rainbow trout industry, a 4.2 billion US dollar industry, is threatened by some production challenges which results in what is termed “Downgrading” of its major product: the fillet. To downgrade a product (fillet) means that the consumers don’t like it, and as such the fillet will not attract a premium price.
Rainbow trout fillets are downgraded either due to discoloration of the fillet and/or muscle gaping resulting in huge financial loss for the producer. The best rainbow trout fillet usually has a consistent and uniform reddish-pink coloration that consumers associate with freshness. Anything below that standard is either outrightly rejected or sold for cheap. Fillet gaping are visible open cracks on the surface of the fillet that becomes distasteful for fish customers. Both problems can reduce the value of the fillet by up to 40% resulting in significant losses. Similar problems occur in Atlantic salmon.
I help find solutions to this “downgrading” problem to help the rainbow trout industry reduce wastage and improve overall profitability.
Primarily, I use advancement in “omics” techniques to help solve this industry’s fundamental problems. We have an understanding that genetics plays a role in the reason why some fish have desirable fillet coloration and while other fish has less-desirable attributes. My role is to use genomic tools and novel approaches to find causative genes and device how the knowledge can be used to breed and select for fish with desirable characteristics. We are also getting to know that differences in fish gut microbial factors can also contribute to the variability in attributes we see in rainbow trout fish.
In one of our publications, “Weighted Single-Step GWAS Identifies Genes Influencing Fillet Color in Rainbow Trout,” we identified genes that influence fillet color variability and how genomic selection can be used to obtain desirable fillet coloration in the United States’ rainbow trout population. Selection for fish with desirable fillet color (uniform reddish-pink or bright white) has economic importance and can improve the profitability of the rainbow trout industry, an industry which provides hundreds of millions of dollars to U.S. commerce and supports food security for the American public.
In another publication “Fecal Microbiome Analysis Distinguishes Bacterial Taxa Biomarkers Associated with Red Fillet color in Rainbow Trout”, we identified certain bacteria biomarkers that are more abundant in rainbow trout with red fillet color and that can confer fillet color advantage to those fish.
An interesting and novel aspect of the research which I’m still investigating is to device ways to integrate microbiome and genomic information together into genomic models that will help to predict these traits in rainbow trout. While genomic selection has been widely adopted in livestock breeding programs, aquaculture is still lagging in such adoption. The Incorporation of microbiome and genomic information together in rainbow trout breeding program genomic will improve the accuracy of genomic prediction and help to select fish with desirable traits of economic importance.
Apart from fillet color and gaping, I am also using similar approaches to improve fillet yield, fillet texture and the omega-3 fatty acid content of the rainbow trout fillet. Omega-3 fatty acid is an essential nutrient to confers many health benefits. Humans cannot produce omega-3 but must consume it through their diet. Rainbow trout is one of the readily available sources of omega-3. The outcome from our research is shared directly with the academic community and industry professionals.