It works! Lumpfish can significantly lower sea lice infestation in large-scale salmon farming

• Published in: Biology Open
• Main Authors: Albert Kjartan Dagbjartarson Imsland, Anna Hanssen, Ane Vigdisdatter Nytrø, Patrick Reynolds, Thor Magne Jonassen, Thor Arne Hangstad, Tor Anders Elvegård, Tonje Cecilie Urskog, Bjørn Mikalsen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Company of Biologists 2018
• Subjects: Biological delousing; Lumpfish; Sea lice; Atlantic salmon; Science; Q; Biology (General); QH301-705.5
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1242/bio.036301; https://doaj.org/article/81a0bf65cf244d8b9e43ee623550399c

To assess the efficacy of lumpfish grazing on attached sea lice on Atlantic salmon, six large-scale sea cages, (130 m circumference, 37,688 m3 volume) each stocked with approximately 200,000 salmon 0+ smolts, were stocked with a 4, 6 and 8% density (8000, 12,000 and 16,000, respectively) of lumpfish. The sea cages without lumpfish acted as controls. Sea lice infestation levels on the salmon were monitored weekly and bi-weekly from 6 October to 17 May the subsequent year. Mortality of the lumpfish rose with decreasing sea temperatures to around 0.8% week−1 and did not vary between the lumpfish groups. There were clear signs of lumpfish grazing on sea lice, with significantly lower average levels of chalimus, pre-adult and adult female Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus sea lice per salmon. Lumpfish in the high density (8%) group reduced the mature female L. salmonis to levels equal to or lower than the counts recorded prior to the start of the study. Overall, the present results indicate that lumpfish are a suitable cold-water option for biological delousing of Atlantic salmon in large-scale production conditions.