August 12, 2013

Canada to support the development of farmed salmon's natural parasite control

Canada's provincial government will provide financial support to continue developing research on natural parasite control for farmed salmon as announced by Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Derrick Dalley.

Memorial University, representatives from the Aquaculture industry and the Canadian Centres for Fisheries Innovation will take part in the project.

The scientific study will determine if cunner and lumpfish, the so-called "cleaner" fish, can protect farmed salmon from sea lice. These fish eat parasites and also clean other fish.

In an official statement, Derrick Dalley said, "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 CAD100 million (US$96 million) in economic activity each year. 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 CAD85,000 (US$82,000) available so that industry and research experts can explore whether cunner and lumpfish can do that here."

The provincial government has already allocated US$49,700 to support earlier phases of research into the use of cleaner fish to protect commercially farmed salmon. 
 

Besides, it has already generated employment for around 1,000 locals and with its help, the aquaculture industry is now worth twice as much in production market value so that it is now worth more than US$96 million each year. If this study is successful, it would mean that an eco-friendly, cost effective solution has been found.

Sea lice is an unrelenting problem against which the global aquaculture industry has to fight on a constant basis. Veterinary doctors believe they might be connected to the infectious salmon anaemia (ISA), which has been the cause for the destruction of thousands of salmon in the province of Newfoundland.

This article is made possible through the contribution of www.fis.com.