F. Oppedal et al., LIGHT-INTENSITY AFFECTS GROWTH AND SEXUAL-MATURATION OF ATLANTIC SALMON (SALMO-SALAR) POSTSMOLTS IN SEA CAGES, Aquatic living resources, 10(6), 1997, pp. 351-357
The aim of the present study is to test the extent to which different
intensities of continuous additional light affect somatic growth and s
exual maturation in Atlantic salmon postsmolts in sea cages. Postsmolt
s (9 200 individuals) were randomly distributed among four commercial
sized sea cages and exposed to either natural light or natural light continuous additional light of low, medium or high intensity from Jan
uary to June. In May the high light intensity group had a significantl
y higher mean live body weight than the other groups, and at the end o
f the experiment in June, all groups differed in mean gutted weight. T
here was a positive logarithmic regression between level of light inte
nsity exposure during night and mean gutted weight. A small proportion
of fish matured sexually (after 1.5 years in seawater) in the natural
light group, whereas no maturation was detected in the light groups.
These results suggests that to affect growth and proportion of maturat
ion in Atlantic salmon by additional light, there might be different t
hreshold values of light intensity.