It works! Lumpfish can significantly lower sea lice infestation in large-scale salmon farming
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, res...
| Published in: | Biology Open |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Company of Biologists Ltd
2018
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://bio.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/7/9/bio036301 https://doi.org/10.1242/bio.036301 |
| Summary: | 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 L epeophtheirus 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. |
|---|