Yields of cultured Pacific oysters Crassostrea gigas Thunberg improved after one generation of selection

Parental families (G₀) in three lines of Pacific oysters were selected based on live weight and meat yields at harvest. The average live weight yield of progeny (G₁) from crossing G₀-selected lines in seven trials was 9.5% greater than that of nonselected control families and live weight yields were significantly greater (ANOVA, P<0.001) in four out of seven trials. The response to selection was greater if G₁ families were tested at the same site as their parents' selection site rather than at a different site, although this effect was only significant for G₁ families of cohort 5 (P<0.01) but not cohort 7 (P>0.05). A significant genotype×environment interaction affected yields in both cohort 5 and cohort 7 (ANOVA; P<0.001). In addition, correlation between the yields of the same families planted at both intertidal and subtidal sites was positive but weak (cohort 5, r=0.30; cohort 7, r=0.35), indicating that selection for high yield in one environment would likely result in a low correlated response in a different environment. Nonetheless, it was possible to identify six families in cohort 5 and four families in cohort 7 that were among the top 10 families at both sites. Further evaluation of families across a wider range of environments is needed to determine if it is possible to substantially improve yields by selecting “generalist” families that perform well along the whole Pacific coast, or whether it will be necessary to select lines that are suited to particular sites.