High quality eggs underpin successful aquaculture production, influencing hatchery efficiency, broodstock selection, and long-term farm productivity. Egg quality, often defined as an egg’s ability to develop into a viable fry, depends on maternal investment during oogenesis. To better understand how maternal traits influence egg composition, we examined lipid and fatty acid content in North American Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) eggs at pre fertilization. Total lipid and fatty acids of 50 families of Atlantic salmon reared at the National Marine Cold Water Aquaculture Center (NMCWAC) were quantified. The NMCWAC is home to a selective breeding program housed in Franklin, Maine, operating with the goal of improving N. American lines of S. salar for aquaculture production. Over the past 2 decades the program has observed a declining trend in survival at eye up, the industry’s developmental benchmark defined by eyes being visible through the chorion. Survival at eye up reflects successful embryonic cleavage, differentiation, and beginning organogenesis. Lipids and fatty acids are determinants of early performance, as they play critical roles supporting developmental timing, cellular structure, signaling, and meeting energetic demands.
In this study traits measured included maternal weight (g), fecundity (total # of eggs), egg size (mm), hatch length (mm), first feed length (mm), and survival at eye up (%), collectively capturing key dimensions of maternal reproductive strategies and early offspring performance. A fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) method was run on a gas-liquid chromatograph to identify a panel of 60 fatty acids, and total lipid content was achieved through a petroleum ether extraction. Preliminary correlation screenings show interesting dynamics in the relationship between maternal traits and respective lipid content. Initial screening identified candidate fatty acids with significant association to survival at eye up. Together, these findings highlight the potential role of egg lipid and fatty acid composition as metrics indicative of egg quality and maternal strategy within selective breeding programs. Ongoing analyses aim to further classify reproductive strategies within the NMCWAC, and understand how this influences downstream offspring performance, such as embryonic survival and growth trajectories.