The cleaning efficacy of lumpfish ( Cyclopterus lumpus  L.) in Faroese salmon ( Salmo salar  L.) farming pens in relation to lumpfish size and seasonality

Eliasen, Kirstin; Danielsen, Eirikur; Johannesen, Ása; Joensen, Lisbeth Lindenskov; Patursson, Esbern J.

doi:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2018.01.026

Cited by 55 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…All studies have found that both species preferentially predate larger, motile lice stages, although chalimus stages can also be predated. 35 Lumpish are deployed at a smaller size than ballan wrasse (15-30 g vs 40-50 g) as their broader crosssection prevents their escape from net pens at these sizes (table 2). Small lumpish (20-30 g) are thought to be more efective delousers than larger lumpish (>75 g), 36 but more research is required to conirm this.…”

Section: Cage Management: Cleaner Ish Behaviour Welfare and Reuse Bementioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable production and use of cleaner fish for the biological control of sea lice: recent advances and current challenges

Brooker

Papadopoulou

Gutiérrez³

et al. 2018

Veterinary Record

109

108

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Currently, cleaner fish are one of the most widely used sea lice control strategies in Atlantic salmon aquaculture. Two species are currently being farmed in North Atlantic countries, ballan wrasse () and lumpfish (), and the sector in most countries is rapidly expanding towards self-sufficiency. The species are very different both in terms of their biology and life histories and, consequently, production and husbandry methods must be tailored to each species. There are numerous health challenges currently experienced in both species, with bacterial and parasitic diseases being the most prevalent, and cohabitation with salmon may increase the risk of disease. Good husbandry and routine health monitoring are essential, although treatment is often required when disease outbreaks occur. Ballan wrasse and lumpfish are both proven to be effective salmon delousers, although delousing efficacy can be variable in farmed fish; the provision of suitable habitat and acclimation to net-pen conditions may encourage natural behaviours, including delousing, and the use of operational welfare indicators can highlight potential welfare issues. Cleaner fish research is progressing rapidly, although much of the basic knowledge regarding the species' biology remains unknown. The simultaneous domestication of two new marine aquaculture species is a significant challenge demanding sustained effort and funding over a prolonged period of time. Research must focus on enhancing the robustness of the farmed stocks and increasing hatchery outputs to meet the urgent demands from the salmon sector and protect wild stocks from overfishing.

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Section: Cage Management: Cleaner Ish Behaviour Welfare and Reuse Bementioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable production and use of cleaner fish for the biological control of sea lice: recent advances and current challenges

Brooker

Papadopoulou

Gutiérrez³

et al. 2018

Veterinary Record

109

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…), which are co-cultured with the salmon as biological sea lice control agents (Powell et al, 2018). The natural diet of lumpfish and wrasse includes biofouling organisms, and they can therefore feed on biofouling of the net pens (Deady et al, 1995;Kvenseth, 1996;Imsland et al, 2015;Eliasen et al, 2018). Salmon farmers therefore aspire to keep nets free of biofouling at all times in order to increase the delousing efficacy of the cleaner fish (Bannister et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biofouling on Salmon Pen Nets and Cleaner Fish Shelters Does Not Harbor Planktonic Stages of Sea Lice

et al. 2020

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The objective of the current study was to determine the extent to which planktonic sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis Krøyer, 1838 and Caligus elongatus Nordmann, 1832) were present in the biofouling on open-sea net pens used for commercial rearing of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.), and to assess if biofouling organisms on nets act as barriers similar to salmon lice skirts. We have examined two possible interactions of biofouling and planktonic sea lice, the first was if biofouling could function as a microhabitat for planktonic sea lice, with resuspension of sea lice during net cleaning operations. The second interaction was if biofouling may cause a retaining effect on the transport of planktonic stages out of the net pen. These interactions were investigated at different commercial salmon farms. With only one sea louse found among the biofouling on nets and cleaner fish shelters, we found no indication that sea lice utilized biofouling as a reservoir. This was further supported by the lack of impact on the proportion of samples with sea lice and the average density of sea lice in the water following the release of biofouling material during in situ net cleaning. Furthermore, the presence of biofouling had no effect on the proportion of samples with sea lice or the average density of planktonic sea lice in the net pens. The presence of a lice skirt resulted, however, in a significantly higher proportion of samples with planktonic sea lice inside the net pen in one of the two sites utilizing lice skirts. The results of our study suggested that the presence of biofouling has no influence on the average density and proportion of samples with planktonic stages of sea lice and that planktonic sea lice do not inhabit biofouling.

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“…Initial results in small experimental sea pens (5×5×5 m) were very promising with up to 93–97% less sea lice infection (adult female lice) in sea pens containing lumpfish ( Imsland et al, 2014a , b , c , 2015a , b ). A recent trial in the Faroes ( Eliasen et al, 2018 ) investigated the stomach content of lumpfish caught from the edge of salmon farming sea pens. They found a clear seasonal effect in lice grazing of lumpfish (most active in the autumn and winter) together with a size effect (smaller lumpfish are more active lice grazers).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2018

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To assess the efficacy of lumpfish grazing on attached sea lice on Atlantic salmon, six large-scale sea cages, (130 m circumference, 37,688 m3 volume) each stocked with approximately 200,000 salmon 0+ smolts, were stocked with a 4, 6 and 8% density (8000, 12,000 and 16,000, respectively) of lumpfish. The sea cages without lumpfish acted as controls. Sea lice infestation levels on the salmon were monitored weekly and bi-weekly from 6 October to 17 May the subsequent year. Mortality of the lumpfish rose with decreasing sea temperatures to around 0.8% week−1 and did not vary between the lumpfish groups. There were clear signs of lumpfish grazing on sea lice, with significantly lower average levels of chalimus, pre-adult and adult female Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus sea lice per salmon. Lumpfish in the high density (8%) group reduced the mature female L. salmonis to levels equal to or lower than the counts recorded prior to the start of the study. Overall, the present results indicate that lumpfish are a suitable cold-water option for biological delousing of Atlantic salmon in large-scale production conditions.

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The cleaning efficacy of lumpfish ( Cyclopterus lumpus L.) in Faroese salmon ( Salmo salar L.) farming pens in relation to lumpfish size and seasonality

Cited by 55 publications

References 28 publications

Sustainable production and use of cleaner fish for the biological control of sea lice: recent advances and current challenges

Sustainable production and use of cleaner fish for the biological control of sea lice: recent advances and current challenges

Biofouling on Salmon Pen Nets and Cleaner Fish Shelters Does Not Harbor Planktonic Stages of Sea Lice

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

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