Genetic Improvement of Wild Fish Populations
Rom Moav 1,
Thomas Brody 2, and
Gideon Hulata 3
1 Professor of genetics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and director of the Institute of Animal Science, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel
2 Lecturer in the Department of Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
3 Fish geneticist at the Fish and Aquaculture Research Station, Institute of Animal Science, Dor, Israel
A plan for the genetic improvement of commercially exploited wild animals is presented. It consists of crossing wild with domesticated breeds to produce heterotic hybrids and to upgrade the wild stocks. Empirical evidence is presented from experiments with the carp. Procedures for monitoring the manipulated populations are outlined. The suggested plan is ecologically reasonable and would counteract the negative genetic changes caused by excessive commercial exploitation of many species.
