Sea lice

Emerging research has demonstrated that Ivermectin, which was previously used as a means of removing sea lice from farmed salmon, inhibits the causative virus for COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) in vitro.

The levels of anti-sea lice medication residues in Norwegian farmed salmon and trout may be below the EU’s maximum residue limit (MRL), but a longer withdrawal period for emamectin should be considered.

Problems with sea lice in salmon farms are making it increasingly cost-effective to on-grow smolts past 100g in land-based systems, according to a new study.

Detailed analysis of big data has revealed that cleaner fish have highly variable - but generally poor - efficacy in terms of combating sea lice infestations in salmon farms.

Scottish salmon farmers have welcomed a new consultation on the merits of introducing legally binding rules to control the harvesting of wrasse for use as cleaner fish.

New research suggests that cleaner fish are nine times less effective at removing sea lice from salmon in pens surrounded by lice skirts, possibly due to the increased depth the salmon swim at in such pens.

Scotland's salmon farming sector had an average monthly survival rate of 98.60 per cent during 2019, according to the latest figures.

Benchmark Holdings, the aquaculture health, nutrition and genetics business, has raised £43 million, as it seeks to scale up its CleanTreat sea lice treatment system.

Claims that using cleaner fish to remove parasitic sea lice from farmed salmon can be economically or ethically justified are not backed up by “robust evidence” according to a new scientific report.

Benchmark has targeted raising £43 million in order to scale up and speed up the commercialisation of its novel sea lice treatment system CleanTreat.

An innovative cage design that ensures salmon stay at least 10 metres below the surface of the sea has been shown to reduce lice levels by 75 percent.

A project to develop a pioneering oral vaccine to protect salmon from sea lice has just been launched in Scotland.

Emerging research raises questions about the welfare of Atlantic salmon during thermal delousing treatments, after tissue injuries and aversive behaviours were observed in lab trials.

The strain of sea louse most closely linked to the spread of disease and mortalities in both farmed and wild Atlantic salmon is unlikely to be adversely affected by the increasing acidification of the oceans.

A new means of removing sea lice from salmonids has been launched by Pharmaq in Chile this week.

The mass salmon mortalities that took place at a Northern Harvest salmon site in Newfoundland in September have been attributed to unusually high water temperatures.

Farmed mussels are showing promising results as a feed for wrasse used as cleaner fish in the fight against sea lice in the salmon aquaculture sector.

A cohort study of commercial salmon farms in Norway explores different prevention and treatment strategies for salmon lice and finds that habituated cleaner fish can keep lice at bay despite fluctuations in temperature and wind currents.…

A new closed-containment system that has been hailed by Nofima as having “considerable potential” to be economically viable has been launched in Norway this week.

How the recent proliferation of sea lice, and new methods for ensuing salmon are not infested with them, is driving up the cost of Norwegian salmon production was the subject of a compelling talk at Aqua Nor yesterday.