The material stored in our cryobank is always available and ready for use. It allows us to always have the semen of dozens of genotyped native males available to fertilize the eggs of the females captured in the fixed stations. In the video we are in one of the side stations of the Volturno and we have captured a small female (native to genetic analysis) from which we have obtained just over 600 eggs. Although a single dose is more than sufficient for fertilization, we choose to divide the pool of eggs into 5 small batches, to be fertilized individually with 5 different males, in order to maximize the genetic diversity of the future offspring which, in this case, will have a mother and five fathers.

The semen is thawed and added to each small batch, which will then be merged with the rest of the eggs. The fertilized eggs are transported to the Rocchetta a Volturno hatchery in plastic bags, inside which hydration takes place. Once they reach their destination, the eggs – after a short rinsing – are ready for final planting on the steel frames. It is on these frames that the egg will remain in incubation until sowing in the waterways of the project area.