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

Biology Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. bio036301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Kjartan Dagbjartarson Imsland ◽  
Anna Hanssen ◽  
Ane Vigdisdatter Nytrø ◽  
Patrick Reynolds ◽  
Thor Magne Jonassen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Lice ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. 2395-2407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Gargan ◽  
Egil Karlsbakk ◽  
John Coyne ◽  
Carys Davies ◽  
William Roche

Abstract Sea trout are parasitized by two species of caligid copepod sea lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus. Generally, levels of lice infestation are low and few adverse effects on the host have been reported. However, with the advent of marine salmon farming since the 1980s, there have been many published accounts of L. salmonis sea lice epizootics on salmonids in aquaculture areas. Few large-scale studies are available on levels of sea lice infestation of sea trout in areas without salmon farms or before their development. Understanding natural background lice levels on sea trout is important to interpret lice levels on trout in aquaculture areas. The Celtic Sea Trout Project, an INTERREG IVA Ireland Wales EU funded project, examined the status, distribution, genetics, and ecology of sea trout around the Irish Sea and provided an opportunity to assess levels of lice on sea trout spatially and temporally in an area without marine salmon farming. The prevalence of L. salmonis remained constant over the 3 years (63–69%), whereas the prevalence of C. elongatus was lower (20–40%). The mean abundance of L. salmonis ranged from 3.6 to 3.8 and that of C. elongatus ranged from 0.6 to 4.3 (n = 850). There was a significant variation in L. salmonis abundance between marine areas. However, the relative stability in the prevalence and mean intensity of both lice species observed and the low mean abundances and very small proportion of juvenile life stages of L. salmonis reported here are similar to those reported from other studies in areas without salmon farming and likely represent natural background salmon lice levels on sea trout. This 3-year study, conducted over a wide geographic area, represents one of the largest studies of sea lice infestation patterns on sea trout in an area distant from finfish aquaculture influences.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Gallardo‐Escárate ◽  
Gabriel Arriagada ◽  
Crisleri Carrera ◽  
Ana Teresa Gonçalves ◽  
Gustavo Nuñez‐Acuña ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 347-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Òscar Aznar-Alemany ◽  
Ethel Eljarrat ◽  
Damià Barceló
Keyword(s):  
Sea Lice ◽  

Author(s):  
Benjamin Alexander Whittaker ◽  
Sofia Consuegra ◽  
Carlos Garcia de Leaniz
Keyword(s):  
Sea Lice ◽  

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Krkošek ◽  
Ray Hilborn

The spread of salmon lice ( Lepeophtheirus salmonis ) from salmon farms may threaten some wild salmon populations. Infestations of wild juvenile pink salmon ( Oncorhynchus gorbuscha ) have been associated with high mortality and population decline. Using stock–recruit data for pink salmon from the central coast of British Columbia, we analyzed how fishing mortality and spatial covariation combine with louse infestation to affect pink salmon population dynamics. The results indicate substantial coherence in survival at nested spatial scales — large-scale regional covariation and smaller scale covariation within management areas. Populations exposed to salmon farms (those from the Broughton Archipelago) show a sharp decline in productivity during sea lice infestations relative to pre-infestation years. Unexposed populations (comprising four management areas) did not experience a change in productivity during infestation years and had similar productivity to exposed populations before infestations. Our results suggest that sea lice infestations may result in declines of pink salmon populations and that management and policy of salmon farms should consider protecting wild juvenile salmon from exposure to sea lice.


2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (12) ◽  
pp. 1925-1932 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. H.H. Price ◽  
A. Morton ◽  
J. D. Reynolds

Salmon farms are spatially concentrated reservoirs of fish host populations that can disrupt natural salmonid host–parasite dynamics. Sea lice frequently infect farm salmon and parasitize sympatric wild juvenile salmonids, with negative impacts on survival in Europe and Pacific Canada. We examined louse parasitism of wild juvenile chum salmon ( Oncorhynchus keta ) and pink salmon ( Oncorhynchus gorbuscha ) from three salmon farming regions in British Columbia (Finlayson, Broughton Archipelago, and Georgia Strait). We compared sites of low and high exposure to farms and included an area without farms (Bella Bella) to assess baseline infection levels. Louse prevalence and abundance were lowest and most similar to natural baseline levels at low-exposure sites and highest at high-exposure sites in all farm regions. A significantly greater proportion of the lice were Lepeophtheirus salmonis at high-exposure sites. Exposure to salmon farms was the only consistently significant factor to explain the variation in prevalence data, with a secondary role played by salinity. Our results support the hypothesis that salmon farms are a major source of sea lice on juvenile wild salmon in salmon farming regions and underscore the importance of using management techniques that mitigate threats to wild stocks.


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