New cryopreservation method provides 94% fertility results on Coho eggs

Cryogenetics AS of Norway has collaborated with TRI-GEN Fish Improvement Ltd. of Agassiz, BC, Canada to establish an innovative cryopreservation protocol for Coho salmon milt. During a two-step trial experiment in the fall of 2009, milt from 25 males was cryopreserved using the Cryogenetics method and compared to existing/public methods. A total of 20,000 eggs where fertilized and incubated to provide significant numbers for the tests. The Cryogenetics method provided a 94% average success rate, which is by far the best known results obtained by using cryopreserved Coho milt to fertilize eggs.

The project will continue in 2010 to verify these results, and to continue the work on establishing similar methods for milt from Chinook and Sockeye salmon. It is expected that the cryopreservation technologies will have a positive impact on how breeding companies and conservation authorities can safely store and later use genes.

Cryogenetics AS specializes in developing cryopreservation technologies for fish milt and embryos, and provides commercial products for milt from Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout and cod. The company issued a press release earlier this year about the breakthrough in cryopreserving a cod embryo down to 130 C.

TRI-GEN Fish Improvement Ltd. specializes in research, development and management  of Coho, Chinook and Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout broodstock programs  throughout the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada regions.

The project has been financially supported by Innovation Norway.

For further information please contact:

Jørn Ulheim, Managing Director, Cryogenetics AS, +47 95 72 32 93, or jorn.ulheim@cryogenetics.no,

Bruce Swift, Managing Director, TRI-GEN Fish Improvement, +1 604 795 6852, or bruceswift@shaw.ca