Breakthrough Offers Hope for Saving Fish Species

A Norwegian company has developed a method for successfully freezing fish embryos that can be revived at a later date. The breakthrough has both commercial and conservation importance as fishing stocks dwindle due to habitat degradation and overfishing.

Cryogenetics, Ltd., announced this week that it has invented a way to cryo-preserve fish embryos down to -202 degrees F. This represents a significant advancement in the effort to preserve fish species for the future. A team headed by Dr. Elisabeth Kommisrud, director of research and development, successfully preserved the embryo of an Atlantic cod, which they nicknamed “Coddy,” thawed it, and watched as it developed normally before hatching. The trials were repeated successfully, and patent applications have been filed. The new technology can be applied to other fish species facing extinction, according to the company’s statement. There may also be an application that would help control the spread of disease in fish-farming. Genetic material from healthy fish that have developed from frozen embryos could be transported from one region to another without fear of spreading disease, a problem that has plagued the aquaculture industry. Similar research has been conducted over the past several years at the U.S. National Zoo’s Aquatic Conservation Project headed by Dr. Mary Hagedorn. They see the cryopreservation of fish embryos as providing new way to “conserve endangered species, improve aquaculture to feed more people and assist in human health progress.” The American team is also pursuing the use of the technology in helping to preserve the world’s diminishing coral reefs.