THE STATUS OF SABLEFISH Anoplopoma fimbria AS A COMMERCIALLY READY SPECIES FOR U.S. MARINE AQUACULTURE

Sablefish (black cod), Anoplopoma fimbria, is classified as a "Commercially Ready" species for marine aquaculture in the U.S. In fact, it is currently being aquacultured in Canada by several companies (e.g., Golden Eagle Sablefish) some of which are vertically integrated.  This species has a very high market value, is fast growing and fairly easy to rear in captivity.  Sablefish do not spawn on their own in tanks, but methods for hormone-induced spawning are well developed.  Females are batch spawners so that very large numbers of eggs (~250K/female) can be obtained/reproductive season.  Methods for year-round gonadal maturation have been developed. Embryonic incubation through yolksac resorption and first feeding is long (~50 days) and carried out at 5C but highly successful.  Research on the larval stage has now significantly decreased the time to artificial feed acclimation, making this phase more cost effective.  Preliminary studies indicate that, with elevated temperatures, omission of Artemia in the larval phase will be successful but initial feeding with rotifers is still required.  Sablefish exhibit significant sexual dimorphic growth that is evident by 500 gm, and techniques for neomale and all-female production have been developed.  NOAA researchers routinely produce all-female stocks of sablefish and their growth is being assessed in net-pen grow-out.  Markets (Asian) for sablefish historically required a 2.5kg fish but markets may be developing for smaller fish as well.  Currently, mixed sex stocks of sablefish require up to 36 months of grow-out in net-pens but using all-female sablefish this can be shortened to under 24 months.  Captive boodstocks are currently unavailable in the U.S. but are being developed.  Females do not reproduce until ~6 years of age so broodstock development and genetic selection will be a long process but family differences in growth are very evident and suggest that selection for fast growth should significantly decrease time to market.  The primary disease issue has been furunculosis (atypical Aeromonas salmonicida) in adults (not juveniles or larvae) and vaccination is partially effective.  

There is currently no commercial grow-out of sablefish in the U.S. but several companies and tribal entities are now developing plans for commercial grow-out in net-pens and recirculation systems.  A pilot-scale net-pen grow-out of all-female sablefish is currently being conducted with the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe (Sequim, WA) to assess, growth, disease, environmental impact and economics.  There are significant ancillary resources available for sablefish including the genetics, reproductive life history and microhabitat of wild populations from which broodstocks are collected on the Pacific Coast and a sequenced genome.  A market and economic assessment of sablefish aquaculture is currently being conducted. Work needs to continue on controlling furunculosis, the development and crossing of captive broodstocks for enhanced traits, development of age-specific diets and strategies for commercial grow-out.