Here is an article discussing the plans to map the Atlantic Salmon Genome, this project is being funded by Chileans, Norwegians and Canadians (naturally seeing as they are the three major producers of farmed Atlantic Salmon)... The article states :
"The genome will be an important public resource that may lead to better management of wild fish stocks, breeding selection for commercially important traits and improvements in food quality, security and traceability. In addition, the genome will provide important clues about the impact of farmed fish escapees on wild populations, conservation of at-risk populations, strategies for combating pathogens, as well as allowing for more accurate assessments of the sustainability of aquatic environments."
To understand some of the potential effects of this project I've looked into how the mapping of the another "industrial species" has changed it's industry. Corn is a prime example of how genetic understanding's have led us to industry changes. With corn the genome now fully mapped we can better understand genetic traits which allows us to breed hardier plants, we have also used the genome to increase crop yields and to understand a few perticular genetic mechanisms operating in human dieseses. GMO's are taking over industral food production, it seems to be the inevitable future for growing demands. One of my personal concerns with genome mapping is the corporate ownership of such information and the advances associated to it. Again with corn this has led to major issues dealing with GMO infestation of non-GMO farmers land. In many cases the corporations have sued innocent farmers for infrigment because seed from neighbors blows into their field. Monsanto currently is prosecuting 400 farmers. They even employ a full time investigative team that seeks out cases. More about and individual case it here.
