Canadian fish farmers trying to use sea lice cleaner fish
Various species of sea lice are giving salmon farmers around the Atlantic Ocean and in Chile severe headaches, while in British Columbia, it is mainly the rigorous regulatory regime that causes the aquaculture industry to spend millions of dollars to treat farmed stocks for sea lice each year- supposedly to protect stocks of migrating salmon. The jury there is still out about the appropriateness of these regulations.But on the east coast of Canada, sea lice has actually caused losses of farmed Atlantic salmon- partly to the development of resistance developed in the lice populations against some of the more commonly used treatment ingredients.
In Norway, it is increasingly common to use a type of wrasse fish to remove lice from penned Atlantic salmon, and as NovaNewsNow reports, funding for a project to investigate the use of such cleaner fish has been confirmed through the Newfoundland and Labrador’s Fisheries Technology and New Opportunities Program;
Derrick Dalley, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, recently announced $85,000 (~€55,100) to continue a research effort that has involved Memorial University, the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation, and representatives from the Aquaculture industry. “Sea lice poses a significant threat to aquaculture operations worldwide, and so this research could be of great benefit to provincial aquaculture sites that are generating more than $100 million(~€64.8 million) in economic activity each year,” said Dalley. “There is evidence from aquaculture operations in Norway and Scotland that certain types of fish can be used in salmon cages to mitigate sea lice effectively, and so the provincial government will make $85,000 available so that industry and research experts can explore whether cunner and lumpfish can do that here.”
Cunner and lumpfish are considered to be “cleaner fish,” a type of fish that clean other species and eat parasites. The provincial government provided $51,600 (~€33,450) to support earlier phases of research into the use of cleaner fish to protect commercially farmed salmon. If the research proves successful, it will identify a remedy for sea lice that is both cost effective and ecologically sound. “The industry is very excited about the potential for cleaner fish to offer a new and environmentally benign pest management tool that would complement our efforts to address sea lice,” said Cyr Couturier, Executive Director of the Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association. “This research may give our industry a global competitive advantage, and so on behalf of the association, I thank the provincial government for its support.”
