A comparison of communal and separate rearing of families in selective breeding of common carp (Cyprinus carpio): Responses to selection

Abstract

The genetic response in growth traits in a selection program for increased harvest weight in a common carp population in Vietnam is reported. A base population (G0) was established from six carp stocks using single pair mating. Selection was based on high breeding values for body weight at harvest, with a corresponding control group selected on average breeding values of the population. In the present study, we implemented two rearing schemes: i) early communal rearing from very soon after hatching, and ii) separate rearing of families until the fish were large enough to be physically tagged. The main aim of the study was to test the relative efficiency of communal early rearing (CER) and separate early rearing (SER) in the context of a Vietnamese common carp selective breeding program. n the present paper, we report selection response for growth performance traits in the common carp population under communal early rearing (CER) and separate early rearing (SER) schemes.