Sea Lice and Fish Farms

She presented her research at the Environmental Research 2016 Review & Seminar Series: Collaborations on BC’s Coast, in Nanaimo, BC at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre on February 17 and 18th, 2016; and hosted by the BC Salmon Farmers Association.

See: https://bcsalmonfarmers.ca/wp-conte...he-Coast-Workshop-Report-Feb-17-18-2016_2.pdf

from that same workshop - Kristi Miller/PSF's summary (p.194):

Summary - Fisheries and Oceans Canada
  • Developed and analytically validated a microbe monitoring platform that can assess presence and load of 45 salmon microbe in 96 fish at once (CSAS reviewed),
  • Demonstrated applicability of broad-scale microbe monitoring to identify microbes important to salmon survival in tracking studies, holding studies, and predation studies,
  • Most of the microbes associated with salmon survival cause chronic, not acute diseases; parasites play a dominant role.
  • We show that sub-lethal impacts of microbes can be detrimental to salmon survival, and that predators may quickly remove infected individuals, thereby decreasing infection levels in the general population. If this were the case for many microbes, it may be very difficult to observe highly diseased naturally migrating wild salmon,
  • We have observed microbe infections associated with survival in all tracking, holding, and predation studies carried out thus far, suggesting that pathogens do, in fact, impact wild fish performance and survival.
 
Here are some more interesting articles... that are not from the salmon net pen industry publications...

Recent failure to control sea louse outbreaks on salmon in the Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0122?af=R#.WGw6QpgzW00...

'Perfect storm' brought sea louse epidemic to BC salmon
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160720122842.htm

I say we get the polluting, disease spreading, unsustainable net pen salmon farms out of the water and on to the land where their negative impacts can be better managed - not try to get other organisms to eat their parasites. History has shown us that it can be dangerous to manipulate nature to solve problems that greed driven humans create only to create other problems.
 
So agent (well not so much you aa ... you avoided the crux of the post and deflected it) and Whole in the Water, are you suggesting this research of perch eating sea lice on farmed salmon is not worthwhile? And because it is instigated by the people most impacted, that is salmon farmers, it is suspect? Really, what harm can come from this type of research?
 
Harm? I wouldn't coach it in those terms. More - like distraction from addressing the inadequacy in providing assurances of no impact to wild stocks while still using the open net-cage technology as "situation normal". I'm not opposed to research for research sake - and in this case - something (possibly) to reduce the lice burden on cultured stocks. Indirectly - if that works - it could reduce the lice transfer to wild stocks. However - there has been quite a bit of feel-good distractions over some years that give the salmon farmers some positive PR - but really doesn't address the real issue of the open net-cage technology.
 
I have seen sea lice dimpling the surface of the water ,infront of many river estuarys .those dimples are only the surface of the problem.when you pear deeper ,how can any fish pass by the cloud of lice.all true you find a calm day and i show you.i provide the boat to pear deeper.
 
I don't know. I kind of like the idea. definitely something that deserves some consideration. In the long term I still lean towards land based farms. But
In the short term it/they could prove to be a useful tool. I wonder how often the salmon/perch interaction happens in the wild?
 
If your ocean fishing from shore you see dimples that don't move over a time .you move towards them and see the mass of lice .Do you look for this now,when shore casting ?,cause i am shure lice's nature to shore.question? have you seen a mass of sealice the size of a inner ballfeild at you favorite estuary and not coached to reconized the mass.
 
When I was a child me and a bud were fishing Little Q estuary. It was spring of 1982 or 83. Every cutthroat or juvenile salmon we caught was plastered with sea lice. Oddly the returns of that out migration were still pretty good. There also isn't any fish farms close to that location to create the lice infestation that was occurring. Maybe the lice came before the farm and not the other way around? Just nobody was paying attention or around to acknowledge it.
I'm not a believer that farms have caused the demise in salmon stalks. They are natural and will always be a part of salmon.
 
Me to i found 4 differany styles of sea lice on one fish off roysten wreaks.all true there aswell.paddlede out from shore after dimples ato find sea lice.so i hijack this thread .Lice form masses at our estuarys,how other than lazers(love it) can stop the lice?
 
[QUOTE="Fishmyster, post: 814857, member: 297" Maybe the lice came before the farm and not the other way around? Just nobody was paying attention or around to acknowledge it.
I'm not a believer that farms have caused the demise in salmon stalks. They are natural and will always be a part of salmon.[/QUOTE]
Interesting opinion. Yes Sea Lice have always been around, but not in such a concentration as you get when a smolt passes by an open net pen.
And then there is the problem of disease, again in a concentrated area. Many a fish farmer has lost his entire stock due to this.
We all see things differently...just like some don't believe in Global Warming....eh.
 
Perch - even if helpful w lice loading of caged fish - will not address things like disease vector transfer (e.g. ISAv, PRv, etc) and those impacts. The technology is wrong - the open net-pen is "open" to the environment - everything flows in and out.

There are many different critters called "sea lice", including the parasitic isopods that often are found on halibut lines - so saying you saw balls of sea lice near an estuary might be irrelevant to the discussion of the sea lice that typically affects salmon - that is Lepeophtheirus (aka "Leps) and Caligus spp.

As fogged-in stated: it's the amplification of Leps and Caligus spp. onto the small, outmigrating juvenile salmon that is the issue.
 
[QUOTE="Fishmyster, post: 814857, member: 297" Maybe the lice came before the farm and not the other way around? Just nobody was paying attention or around to acknowledge it.
I'm not a believer that farms have caused the demise in salmon stalks. They are natural and will always be a part of salmon.
Interesting opinion. Yes Sea Lice have always been around, but not in such a concentration as you get when a smolt passes by an open net pen.
And then there is the problem of disease, again in a concentrated area. Many a fish farmer has lost his entire stock due to this.
We all see things differently...just like some don't believe in Global Warming....eh.[/QUOTE]

I believe in global warming. I just think acid rain is the more contributing factor in depressed fish stocks. Have you ever ph tested the rain? Just because you cannot see the contaminants in it doesn't mean it isn't harmful.
 
Perch - even if helpful w lice loading of caged fish - will not address things like disease vector transfer (e.g. ISAv, PRv, etc) and those impacts. The technology is wrong - the open net-pen is "open" to the environment - everything flows in and out.

There are many different critters called "sea lice", including the parasitic isopods that often are found on halibut lines - so saying you saw balls of sea lice near an estuary might be irrelevant to the discussion of the sea lice that typically affects salmon - that is Lepeophtheirus (aka "Leps) and Caligus spp.

As fogged-in stated: it's the amplification of Leps and Caligus spp. onto the small, outmigrating juvenile salmon that is the issue.

You are quick to discredit fish camps observations of concentrated sea lice in a natural setting. Were you there to positively identify the lice he seen were not salmon effecting species?
 
nope. Wasn't discrediting his observations - that's your interpretation - not mine. Just pointing-out many different bugs in the water are loosely termed "sea lice". Only 2 genera are pertinent in the wild/cultured salmon "sea lice" debate - Leps and Caligus - spp. - as mentioned.
 
nope. Wasn't discrediting his observations - that's your interpretation - not mine. Just pointing-out many different bugs in the water are loosely termed "sea lice". Only 2 genera are pertinent in the wild/cultured salmon "sea lice" debate - Leps and Caligus - spp. - as mentioned.

Guess it just read like that, sorry.
I have seen a similar infestation of lice and they were both attached to salmon or free swimming. So fish camps observations might be very relevant to this thread.
 
Guess it just read like that, sorry. I have seen a similar infestation of lice and they were both attached to salmon or free swimming. So fish camps observations might be very relevant to this thread.
No probs Fishmyster. Yep - could be relevant - but only if you knew what you were dealing with. Sure would be nice if people had a plankton net - or cheap alternative onboard. Those kiddy butterfly dip nets work fairly well for sampling - for larger zooplankters. Leps is large and often grey to black - with white/sandy coloured eggs on the gravid females. Caligus is smaller - and with a reddish tinge to the eggs/lice. There are also numerous species of non-parasitic copepods and isopods that "swarm" - as well - especially off shear zones - which is why fry/fish hang-out there as well. Calanus spp. is well known to do that, for example - as well as barnacle and crab larvae/naupilus/zoea - both genera also often found at the lower end of an estuary.
 
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Me to i found 4 differany styles of sea lice on one fish off roysten wreaks.all true there aswell.paddlede out from shore after dimples ato find sea lice.so i hijack this thread .Lice form masses at our estuarys,how other than lazers(love it) can stop the lice?

Did you have the chance to capture or photograph the sea lice that were in the masses? You know the saying, "no pictures it didn't happen". It could be some enlightening info to know if they are the nuisance species or not?
 
So...... Fish farms deliver or bring smolts to open water lice free, correct? So in truth the wild salmon are inflicting damage to the fish farms. Lol
 
So...... Fish farms deliver or bring smolts to open water lice free, correct? So in truth the wild salmon are inflicting damage to the fish farms. Lol

Not sure if you are just joking around, or trying to make a logical point - could you elaborate more on this?
 
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