March 19, 2018

Scottish Sea Farms successfully tests sea lice shields

 

Leading salmon producer Scottish Sea Farms' sea lice shields, the latest in a series of proactive, preventative measures by the company to enhance the health and welfare of its farmed salmon, have reportedly reduced significantly the need for anti-lice medicines.

Specially engineered to suit Scottish marine conditions, each shield consists of a permeable fabric that lets water and oxygen move freely into fish pens whilst keeping natural health threats out.

The fabric fully encases the pen to a depth of 6 metres, providing a barrier against sea lice, which are most commonly found in the first few metres below the water's surface.

The new shields were first introduced at the company's farm in Slocka, Ronas Voe on Shetland, Scotland, in May 2017, and in the succeeding months sea lice levels have remained below the Marine Scotland threshold. Moreover, the salmon showed strong growth and biological performance, the company said.

Scottish Sea Farms has now invested over £800,000 (US$1.12 million) with two Scottish suppliers--William Milne Tarpaulins in Aberdeen and W&J Knox in Ayrshire--to roll out similar protection to 11 of its other farms.

The company is also working with neighbouring salmon growers to synchronise use of the shields, as part of a farm management agreement for those same areas.

 "We strive, wherever possible, to replicate the natural conditions that salmon are known to thrive in. As any farmer will understand, however, this comes with its own risks as the marine environment presents new challenges all the time. We are continually exploring and investing in new ways of dealing with these challenges, and it's hugely encouraging to see positive early results such as these at our trial project in Shetland", said Jim Gallagher, managing director of Scottish Sea Farms. 

This latest advance is part of a wider £11.8-million ($16.5-million) investment in 2017 by the company to enhance the health and welfare of its salmon, over 85% of which is being spent on non-medicinal approaches.

Together with other methods to control sea lice--such as the use of cleaner fish (so-called because they "clean" salmon by eating any sea lice) and the new Thermolicer technology that bathes salmon in such a way as to dislodge and catch sea lice--the sea lice shields have significantly reduced the need to administer medicines, with six of the company's farms requiring no sea lice interventions at all in 2017, Scottish Sea Farms said.