Photo of Eric Hallerman

Eric Hallerman

Associate Professor of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences

Expertise: Classical, Quantitative, Population and Molecular Genetics; Aquaculture

 

Phone: 540-231-3257 FAX: 540-231-7580 e-mail:

Research Interests
Genetic improvement of aquaculture stocks, aquaculture biotechnology and related public policy, population genetics of fish and wildlife species, genetics education.

Personal Information
Dr. Eric Hallerman is an associate professor of fisheries and wildlife sciences, where he teaches courses in Principles of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Ichthyology, Genetics for Aquaculturists, and Conservation Genetics. His research in aquaculture-related genetics involves selective breeding of tilapia and striped and hybrid basses, genetic mapping in tilapia, and risk assessment and risk management for genetically modified fishes. He is an associate editor for professional journals including Aquaculture, the International Journal of Recirculating Aquaculture, the North American Journal of Aquaculture, and Reviews in Fisheries Science. He serves on the Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology, Health, and the Environment for the National Research Council, and has chaired or served on the organizing committee for several workshops on aquaculture biotechnology.

Current Projects
 Improving striped bass and hybrid striped bass farming via selective breeding
We are evaluating two strategies for producing high performance hybrid striped bass. First, we are determining whether selection within striped and white bass stocks followed by hybridization will yield a superior hybrid. We will produce 48 select hybrid striped bass families and 48 randomly-bred families and raise them in sufficient numbers to stock replicated commercial scale tanks and ponds to compare performance of select and random crosses, and to identify promising crosses. The other approach to producing a superior hybrid is through introgressive hybridization, that is, by backcrossing F1 hybrid striped bass to striped bass. We will produce backcrosses by spawning multiple families of female hybrid striped bass with male striped bass. As controls, we will cross 12 white bass females from the Arkansas strain with the same four male Maryland striped bass. Reproductive and hatchery performance of the two types of crosses will be compared in terms of fertilization, hatch, and swimbladder inflation rates, days to weaning onto artificial feed, survival to metamorphosis at approximately 40 days, survival to the end of the study, feed conversion efficiency, and monthly mean weight and length.

Refinement of a pilot-scale system for water recovery and reuse at Blue Ridge Aquaculture.
 Operators of recirculating aquaculture systems are concerned about the availability and cost of well and municipal water, as well as the cost of water disposal to the municipal sewer system. Pilot-scale research supported by CFAST demonstrated significant improvement of recovered water quality, although not all targeted water quality improvements were achieved by the pilot system. Hence, the design needs to be developed and tested further at the pilot scale. Innovations under investigation include introduction of a primary clarifier basin, capture of nitrogen gas resulting from denitrification and its use for stripping dissolved oxygen from the influent, replacement of the foam fractionation process with ozonation, and the addition of a secondary biological (aerobic) treatment. Our objectives are to: (1) test and optimize the unit process of solids removal, (2) test and optimize the process of ozonation in a continuous water flow, (3) test and optimize the unit process of denitrification, (4) quantify the performance of the final nitrification unit; (5) derive a nitrogen budget for the entire facility, and (6) optimize the overall water reuse treatment train for different working conditions.

Evaluation of resource strains for development of a cross-bred tilapia stock for fillet production
 Work undertaken will provide the data needed for establishing a tilapia line with a body conformation appropriate for fillet production. We will evaluate the performance of well-chosen tilapia resource strains in recirculating aquaculture systems. This involves:

  1. choosing and acquiring seed-stock from eight candidate resource strains,
  2. growing out replicated groups of the respective stocks in recirculating aquaculture systems, evaluating performance in terms of survival, growth, and feed conversion ratio, body conformation, and other aquaculturally important traits, and
  3. analyzing performance data, and to make a recommendation regarding which pure strains and crossbreds should be produced to support the development of a Blue Ridge strain for fillet production.

Recent Publications

Books

2002. Vandenbergh, J.G., A.S. Ahl, J.M. Coffin, W.H. Eyestone, E.M. Hallerman, T.-C. Lee, J.A. Mench, W.M. Muir, R.M. Roberts, T.H. Schettler, L.B. Schook, and M.R. Taylor. Animal Biotechnology: Science-based Concerns. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. Electronic copy available at http://www.nap.org. Paper copy, in press.

Book chapters

In press. Hallerman, E.M. Hatcheries as Tools to Promote Sustainability. In D. MacDonald and E. Knudsen, eds. Fish in Our Future? Perspectives on Fisheries Sustainability. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD.

In press. Hallerman, E.M., and Y. Kashi. Tilapia Genome Mapping and Prospects for Marker-assisted Selection. In G.C. Mair, R.S.V. Pullin, and G. Hulata, eds. Reviews in Applied Genetics of Tilapias. ICLARM Studies and Reviews Series. International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management, Manila.

Papers

2002 Hall, A.G., E.M. Hallerman, and G.S. Libey. Water Quality Impacts of Three Biofilter Designs in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems. International Journal of Recirculating Aquaculture 3:33-59.

2002 Kidd, M., and E. Hallerman. Growth Performance of Genetically Male and Selectively Bred Tilapia in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems. Fourth International Conference on Recirculating Aquaculture, July 18-21, 2002.

2002 Hallerman, E., M. Leffler, S. Mills, and S. Allen, Jr. Aquaculture of Triploid Crassostrea ariakensis in Chesapeake Bay: A Symposium Report. Maryland Sea Grant College Program, 0112 Skinner Hall. University of Maryland System, College Park, MD 20742. http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/oysters.

2001 Dunham, R.A., K. Majumdar, E. Hallerman, D. Bartley, G. Mair, G. Hulata, Z. Liu, T. Gjedrem, N. Pongthana, J. Bakos, D. Penman, M. Gupta, P. Rothlisberg, and G. Hoerstgen-Schwark. Review of the Status of Aquaculture Genetics. Pages 129-157 in R.P. Subasinghe, P. Bueno, M.J. Phillips. C. Hough, S.E. McGladdery, and J.R. Arthur, eds. Technical Proceedings of the Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millenium, Bangkok, Thailand, February 20-25, 2000. NACA, Bangkok, and FAO, Rome.

2001 Dew, J., J. Berkson, and E. Hallerman. A Risk Assessment Simulation Model for Culture of Triploid Crassostrea ariakensis in the Chesapeake Bay. Distributed by Virginia Sea Grant Marine Science Consortium, Madison House, 170 Rugby Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903.

2000 Agresti, J.J., S. Seki, G.A.E. Gall, A. Cnaani, G. Hulata, S. Poompuang, E.M. Hallerman, and B.P. May. Interspecific Genetic Map and Breeding Program for Tilapia. Aquaculture 185:43-56.

1999. Woods, L.C. III, E.M. Hallerman, L. Douglass, and R.M. Harrell. Variability in Growth Rate Within and Among Stocks and Families of Striped Bass, Morone saxatilis. North American Journal of Aquaculture 61:8-12

1999 Hallerman, E.M., D. King, and A.R. Kapuscinski. A Computer Software Package for Assessing and Managing Risks Posed by Experiments with Genetically Modified Fish and Shellfish. Aquaculture 173:309-318.