๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐.
When breeding programs entered Norwegian aquaculture more than 50 years ago, selection was largely phenotypic. Along the riverbanks, workers in rubber boots and oilskins would catch salmon and use physical appearance and body weight asย selection criteria. The best-looking, heaviest and fastest-growing salmon were then chosen as broodstock.
โThe beginning of the Norwegian aquaculture adventure was, for the most part, driven by family businesses that had the vision and belief that this would become an industry of the future.โ
– Terje Refstie, one of the central geneticists in establishment of the SalmoBreed.
While phenotypic selection laid the groundwork, it also had clear limitations: lower accuracy in genetic progress, higher biological risk, and little opportunity to balance growth with traits such asย robustness, disease resistance, and long-term performance.
A major shift came inย 1975, when AKVAFORSK (the Norwegian Institute of Aquaculture Research)ย launched the first family-based breeding program in aquaculture. Twenty-six years later,ย SalmoBreedย was established – marking a shift toward family-based breeding and pedigree-based selection, focused on traits measured at sea such as growth, sexual maturity, harvest quality and disease resistance. Since 2015, genomic selection was adopted for growth and disease resistance to accelerate the transfer of superior genetics to Norwegian salmon farms.
More stories from the early days of SalmoBreed – and the journey since – coming soon.
