Fish hatchery

Some species that are commonly raised in hatcheries include Pacific oysters, shrimp, Indian prawns, salmon, tilapia and scallops.

[2][3] There is much interest in supplementing exploited stocks of fish by releasing juveniles that may be wild caught and reared in nurseries before transplanting, or produced solely within a hatchery.

[4] Culture of finfish larvae has been utilised extensively in the United States in stock enhancement efforts to replenish natural populations.

[6] Hatcheries produce larval and juvenile fish and shellfish for transferral to aquaculture facilities where they are ‘on-grown’ to reach harvest size.

Artificial fertilisation facilitates selective breeding programs which aim to improve production characteristics such as growth rate, disease resistance, survival, colour, increased fecundity and/or lower age of maturation.

Reduce dependence on wild-caught juveniles In 2008 aquaculture accounted for 46% of total food fish supply, around 115 million tonnes.

[5] Some of the more common methods are: Manual stripping: For shellfish, gonads are generally removed and gametes are extracted or washed free.

[7][10] Alternatively, if environmental cues that stimulate natural spawning are known, these can be mimicked in the tank e.g. changing salinity to simulate migratory behaviour.

Carnivorous fish are commonly fed with live prey; rotifers are usually offered to early larvae due to their small size, progressing to larger Artemia nauplii or zooplankton.

[7][17] Hatchery facilities therefore need to understand these cues to induce settlement and also be able to substitute artificial substrates to allow for easy handling and transportation with minimal mortality.

[7][18] Hatchery designs are highly flexible and are tailored to the requirements of site, species produced, geographic location, funding and personal preferences.

[7] Many hatchery facilities are small and coupled to larger on-growing operations, whilst others may produce juveniles solely for sale.

Such fish that escape from farms or are released for restocking purposes may adversely affect wild population genetics and viability.

Tanks in a shrimp hatchery.
Manually stripping eggs
Juvenile salmon towards the end of their stay in a hatchery
Multi-Species Fish and Invertebrate Breeding and Hatchery, (Oceanographic Marine Laboratory in Lucap, Alaminos, Pangasinan , Philippines , RMaTDeC,2011).