Optimising freshwater health interventions in seawater salmon production
Project life: 18 months
This field-based project focuses on improving best practice for treating fish showing sub-optimal gill health. Objectives are:
- Delivery of new knowledge concerning immersion of fish in ambient freshwater or low salinity water (modified seawater) to improve gill health or reduce sea lice
- Elucidation of the welfare implications of such treatments including assessment of a number of innovative technologies in improving the health and welfare outcomes of interventions, with particular emphasis on oxygenation enhancement and associated water management improvements.
- Nevis Marine Ltd.
- University of Stirling
- Loch Duart Ltd.
- Pulcea Ltd.
- Norwegian Institute of Marine Research
The Scottish Government’s Farmed Fish Health Framework (FFHF) identifies gill health as a major challenge for aquaculture and a significant contributor to the mortality of marine farmed fish. Improving gill health and safeguarding the health and welfare status of gill-compromised fish are therefore urgent priorities for the Scottish industry.
This field-based project focuses on improving best practice for treating fish showing sub-optimal gill health. The project’s production partner, Loch Duart, successfully introduced two low salinity treatment options - ambient freshwater (utilising local rainwater) and modified seawater treatments (produced on-site using an innovative membrane system) - into their fish health management programme during 2018. The Consortium’s two academic partners will use a number of innovative techniques and tools to assess fish health and welfare parameters, and further improve water management during these health interventions. A number of new biomarkers for fish health and welfare status will also be developed and then tested in the field. This knowledge will allow Scottish salmon farmers to further optimise their low salinity treatment regimes and thereby improve fish health and welfare outcomes under commercial field conditions.