Our laboratory is leading a new project, Cardiac Phenotyping in Rainbow Trout Aquaculture: Early Markers for Predicting Production Robustness (TEM-TA293), running from September 2026 to August 2029.
Project overview
Estonian aquaculture faces hidden biological losses that reduce production predictability and added value. Early decisions on stock origin and feed are made under uncertainty, while consequences emerge only later under fast growth or stress. The heart is a key mechanistic bottleneck: cardiac abnormalities are common in farmed salmonids, and reduced cardiac reserve may remain silent until fish encounter warming, hypoxia, or handling. This project determines how genotype, feed, and age shape cardiac development and robustness in farmed rainbow trout, identifies early warning signs of hidden vulnerability, and develops the Trout Robustness Assessment Protocol (TRAP) — a standardised, farm-linked decision-support tool. Controlled genotype-by-feed experiments combined with farm cohort validation connect cardiac physiology to real production outcomes. The project builds applied competence, trains doctoral researchers, and targets uptake in Estonian and Nordic trout farming.
The project (TEM-TA293) is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research through the TemTA programme, administered by the Estonian Research Council.
