Overview of methods for production of sterile salmonids, their applicability in aquaculture and possible implications to wild salmon populations and biodiversity in Norway

VKM has assessed the potential use of sterile salmonids in aquaculture, focusing on positive and negative effects on wild salmon in Norway. Triploidisation is highly efficient but raises welfare concerns such as stress and disease susceptibility. VKM has therefore assessed various measures that can amend these negative effects. Alternative sterilisation methods like gene editing, vaccination and temporal knock-down of proteins for gonadal development by antisense oligomers are promising, although remain mostly experimental and require further development. Sterility is a potentially very negative trait ifspread to wild populations. Therefore, VKM find that, overall, methods that result in permanent genetic changes are more likely to have negative effects than methods that only affect the downstream effects of relevant genes.