World Aquaculture Magazine - September 2021

28 SEP TEMBER 2021 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WA S .ORG spawning of F1 broodstock maintained at CEINER in Islas Rosario and at the CENIACUA / Benchmark facilities at Punta Canoa. Additional spawns and larval rearing trials have been achieved and continue to be conducted with both wild and F1 broodstock. With this breakthrough, the reproductive cycle of the goliath grouper has been closed (Fig. 13), opening a roadmap for a technology package for its aquaculture production and the conservation of this iconic species. Research efforts aiming at reaching commercial viability will continue, aiming at standardizing and optimizing protocols — including ideal hormonal doses and the precise timing of egg extrusion and fertilization so as to better predict and obtain good- quality spawns. The ultimate goal of the breeding program is to continue to gain scientific knowledge of the reproduction cycle to ultimately obtain full control and predictable, volitional spawns of large quantities of high-quality eggs. This work represents an important contribution to the field. The outlook and prospects for the near future are bright. Gaining scientific knowledge of the goliath grouper reproduction cycle, their early development, as well as on all other stages of their life cycle, is crucially important not only for aquaculture development but also for conservation of this species. Acknowledgements This work was conducted at CEINER - Oceanario Islas Rosario and CENIACUA and Benchmark Genetics Colombia facilities with funding and support from the National Aquaculture and Fisheries Authority of Colombia —AUNAP. We are extremely grateful for the support of the administrative and technical staff of these organizations. We further thank the National Natural Parks of Colombia for 15 years in continuing support of this research project. We are also very grateful to the Government of Bolívar, FIGURE 10. Newly-hatched (left) and 1 day post-hatch (right) goliath grouper larvae. FIGURE 11. Goliath grouper larvae at 7 (left) and 9 (right) days post-hatch. LEFT, FIGURE 12. Goliath grouper fingerling at 58 days post-hatch. RIGHT, FIGURE 12. Juvenile F2 goliath grouper, completing the cycle.