Environmental DNA for assessing abundance of salmon lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) in salmon (Salmo salar) farms

• Main Author: Nygaard, Magnus
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: UiT The Arctic University of Norway 2018
• Subjects: VDP::Landbruks- og Fiskerifag: 900::Fiskerifag: 920::Akvakultur: 922; VDP::Agriculture and fishery disciplines: 900::Fisheries science: 920::Aquaculture: 922; FSK-3960; Slaughter; Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10037/21209

The aim of this thesis was to investigate an alternative way to detect salmon lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) in the field, and investigate the possibility of counting salmon lice in a commercial farming facility of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) by using methods and tools based on environmental DNA (henceforth referred to as eDNA). This was performed by sampling water in a salmon farming facility over a couple of months, collecting live salmon lice at a local salmon slaughter factory and conducting an experiment in a laboratory under a controlled environment.