January 18, 2025
Dr. Michael Kjelland, associate professor of biology and agribusiness at Mayville State University, was part of a grant team that produced a study revealing cost-saving breeding practices for catfish farmers in the United States. Based at Auburn University, researchers determined that the indicators farmers commonly used to select males for breeding, head size and coloring, are not always linked to sperm quality or quantity.
This study showed that catfish farmers may be hurting their profitability because the process of developing hybrid catfish embryos is highly labor intensive, and farmers lack science-based practices for choosing the best males for breeding.
The research team found that the amount of sperm needed for a successful fertilization rate is much lower than what is commonly practiced in commercial catfish farming. Farmers are likely sacrificing males they’ve spent many years raising without an increased rate of fertilization. Sperm collection is lethal for the fish, and since the catfish don’t reach sexual maturity until four to seven years of age, farmers have invested greatly in those fish by the time they are ready for sperm collection. The information gained in this study helps to take the guesswork out of knowing how many males to sacrifice for breeding, and thus, makes the farmers more efficient.
The research group included a team of hatchery scientists from Auburn University and grant team members Dr. Kjelland; Luke Roy of Auburn Extension; Ian Butts, Auburn associate professor and grant project director; and Rex Dunhan, Butler-Cunningham Eminent Scholar in Agriculture & Environmental Science at Auburn. The team was awarded $430,000 by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to study hybrid catfish breeding practices to help improve reproductive efficiency and reduce production costs for catfish farmers.
“My interest in aquaculture began while I was working on my Ph.D. at Texas A&M University (TAMU),” said Dr. Kjelland. “I had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Delbert Gatlin and Dr. Michael Masser, who gave me access to the TAMU Aquacultural Research and Teaching Facility to do some preliminary research on catfish. Subsequently, I ended up doing research with colleagues in Spain. That involved zebrafish and gamete DNA analysis, which led to a scientific journal publication titled, ‘Sperm DNA fragmentation in zebrafish (Danio rerio) and its impact on fertility and embryo viability - implications for fisheries and aquaculture.’ (See more at (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0044848614002671.)
“I really enjoyed this opportunity to participate in catfish research once again,” said Kjelland.
See more about the latest catfish research of Kjelland and the research team: https://www.hatcheryfm.com/news/latest-news/study-reveals-cost-saving-breeding-practices-for-us-catfish-farmers/.
To learn more about research opportunities for students at Mayville State, contact Dr. Kjelland at michael.kjelland@mayvillestate.edu.
