Relationship Between Rearing Conditions and Health in Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) Fry

Abstract

We examined relationships between rearing conditions and health parameters, carcass adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content and ATP synthase transcript (AST) level, using chum salmon fry in two hatcheries to demonstrate appropriate rearing conditions. The standard values of ATP content (<21.0 pmol/g body weight) and AST level (>4.34 pmol competitor/μg total RNA), which reflect health, were in the range of <30 kg/m³ at rearing density and >8 mg/l at dissolved oxygen concentration (DO). Our results suggest that physiologically appropriate rearing conditions for culture of chum salmon fry were <30 kg/m³ at rearing density and >8 mg/l at DO.