Relationship of farm salmon, sea lice, and wild salmon populations
Increased farm salmon production has heightened concerns about the association between disease on farm and wild fish. The controversy is particularly evident in the Broughton Archipelago of Western Canada, where a high prevalence of sea lice (ectoparasitic copepods) was first reported on juvenile wi...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3012511 2023-05-15T15:32:37+02:00 Relationship of farm salmon, sea lice, and wild salmon populations Marty, Gary D. Saksida, Sonja M. Quinn, Terrance J. 2010-12-28 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3012511 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21149706 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1009573108 en eng National Academy of Sciences http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3012511 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21149706 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1009573108 Biological Sciences Text 2010 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1009573108 2013-09-03T09:26:28Z Increased farm salmon production has heightened concerns about the association between disease on farm and wild fish. The controversy is particularly evident in the Broughton Archipelago of Western Canada, where a high prevalence of sea lice (ectoparasitic copepods) was first reported on juvenile wild pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in 2001. Exposure to sea lice from farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) was thought to be the cause of the 97% population decline before these fish returned to spawn in 2002, although no diagnostic investigation was done to rule out other causes of mortality. To address the concern that sea lice from fish farms would cause population extinction of wild salmon, we analyzed 10–20 y of fish farm data and 60 y of pink salmon data. We show that the number of pink salmon returning to spawn in the fall predicts the number of female sea lice on farm fish the next spring, which, in turn, accounts for 98% of the annual variability in the prevalence of sea lice on outmigrating wild juvenile salmon. However, productivity of wild salmon is not negatively associated with either farm lice numbers or farm fish production, and all published field and laboratory data support the conclusion that something other than sea lice caused the population decline in 2002. We conclude that separating farm salmon from wild salmon—proposed through coordinated fallowing or closed containment—will not increase wild salmon productivity and that medical analysis can improve our understanding of complex issues related to aquaculture sustainability. Text Atlantic salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha Pink salmon Salmo salar Copepods PubMed Central (PMC) Canada Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107 52 22599 22604 |
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Biological Sciences Marty, Gary D. Saksida, Sonja M. Quinn, Terrance J. Relationship of farm salmon, sea lice, and wild salmon populations |
topic_facet |
Biological Sciences |
description |
Increased farm salmon production has heightened concerns about the association between disease on farm and wild fish. The controversy is particularly evident in the Broughton Archipelago of Western Canada, where a high prevalence of sea lice (ectoparasitic copepods) was first reported on juvenile wild pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in 2001. Exposure to sea lice from farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) was thought to be the cause of the 97% population decline before these fish returned to spawn in 2002, although no diagnostic investigation was done to rule out other causes of mortality. To address the concern that sea lice from fish farms would cause population extinction of wild salmon, we analyzed 10–20 y of fish farm data and 60 y of pink salmon data. We show that the number of pink salmon returning to spawn in the fall predicts the number of female sea lice on farm fish the next spring, which, in turn, accounts for 98% of the annual variability in the prevalence of sea lice on outmigrating wild juvenile salmon. However, productivity of wild salmon is not negatively associated with either farm lice numbers or farm fish production, and all published field and laboratory data support the conclusion that something other than sea lice caused the population decline in 2002. We conclude that separating farm salmon from wild salmon—proposed through coordinated fallowing or closed containment—will not increase wild salmon productivity and that medical analysis can improve our understanding of complex issues related to aquaculture sustainability. |
format |
Text |
author |
Marty, Gary D. Saksida, Sonja M. Quinn, Terrance J. |
author_facet |
Marty, Gary D. Saksida, Sonja M. Quinn, Terrance J. |
author_sort |
Marty, Gary D. |
title |
Relationship of farm salmon, sea lice, and wild salmon populations |
title_short |
Relationship of farm salmon, sea lice, and wild salmon populations |
title_full |
Relationship of farm salmon, sea lice, and wild salmon populations |
title_fullStr |
Relationship of farm salmon, sea lice, and wild salmon populations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Relationship of farm salmon, sea lice, and wild salmon populations |
title_sort |
relationship of farm salmon, sea lice, and wild salmon populations |
publisher |
National Academy of Sciences |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3012511 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21149706 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1009573108 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Atlantic salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha Pink salmon Salmo salar Copepods |
genre_facet |
Atlantic salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha Pink salmon Salmo salar Copepods |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3012511 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21149706 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1009573108 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1009573108 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
container_volume |
107 |
container_issue |
52 |
container_start_page |
22599 |
op_container_end_page |
22604 |
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1766363110209224704 |