Objective
This proposal seeks to address three major barriers to the development of a Europe wide Arctic charr industry.
1) The identification of local wild stocks with characteristics suitable for culture.
2) The environmental concerns of siting Arctic charr farms amongst pristine and, as yet, uncharacterised Arctic charr, charr populations across Europe.
3) The difficulty in producing viable ova from farm held broodstock.
It is felt, by the proposers, that each of these three areas of research are interdependent to the success of an attractive, expanding industry.
To address each of these barriers the core proposer group plan a 3 part programme of research and development.
To identify wild stocks with valuable culture characteristics: we intend to utilise techniques and experience of research performers to identify and procure ova from wild stocks throughout Europe and then compare performance under commercial conditions in S.M.E.'s production units.
To address environmental concerns associated with farm escapes: we intend to transfer current knowledge on sterilisation techniques from other salmonid species to Arctic charr, test its efficacy and the performance of sterilised fish.
To attempt to improve ova viability: S.M.E.'s propose to utilise the experimental experience of R.T.D.'s to perform a series of environmental manipulations.
The innovative programme of research described here is designed to address the above difficulties to expansion of an Arctic charr farming industry in Europe.