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Rafael Fernandez Guzman raises tilapia in the Mexican state of Chiapas. He sells
them fresh from his ponds to customers who stop by.
He sold 230,000 fish in 2009, he says.
Now he wants to branch into native species like Mayan cichlids and bay snooks
because his customers like them.
The problem is, though,
that he's not sure if the fish would be as lucrative as the non-native tilapia,
which grow faster and are ready for market in six months.
As Fernandez knows, the longer fish take to mature, the more money he has to spend
on feeding them.
To help fish farmers like Fernandez researchers at the Autonomous Juarez University of Tabasco in Villahermosa
are trying to shave off some of this time.
Through selective breeding they're working to develop a prolific broodstock
of Mayan cichlids and bay snooks, which aren't actually related to snooks.
They hope these broodstock will produce fast-growing, meaty, consistently sized
youngsters that could compete economically with tilapia.
Researchers say they chose these two species because they fetch higher prices
than tilapia in local markets, consumers like them, and fish farmers want to raise
native species because of their popularity.
If it successfully develops a genetically improved breeding stock,
the university would aim to sell their offspring to fish farmers in
southeastern Mexico.
So far the scientists have produced one generation of each species. They intend
to make more crosses until they create a stable third generation of broodstock
whose progeny will have a competitive edge.
At one of the university's campuses, their work is in full swing thanks in part to
funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development through its
AquaFish Collaborative Research Support Program.
Dozens of mesh cages holding Mayan cichlids and bay snooks float in two ponds.
They are the descendants of nearly 200 wild fish. Students weigh and
measure them and weed out the small ones.
They'll keep an elite group of the heaviest ones then breed them and repeat
the selection process until they arrive at the third generation.
One day, their offspring just might end up at Rafael Fernandez's fish farm.