Cleaner fish: a natural approach to the control of sea lice on farmed fish.
2005
Treasurer, J. W.
Salmon aquaculture is a major contributor to fish supply in temperate areas worldwide with annual production in excess of 1.3 million tonnes. The main health issue is sea lice, ectoparasitic crustaceans, which not only cause epidermal damage and reduced appetence giving rise to welfare issues and increased production costs, but have also allegedly impacted wild salmonid stocks. Control methods include medicines applied as a bath and in the salmon food, but bath treatments in particular have given only limited control of sea lice and the development of resistance to these medicines is a perennial problem. Integrated pest management has been seen as the best sustainable approach to control, involving medicines, preventive measures such as fallowing and area management, combined with biological control. Although the use of vaccines and semio-chemicals have been investigated together with several biological agents, the use of cleaner fish, normally wrasse (Labridae), that pluck lice from the fish is the only verified biological method to have been used successfully. This review examines the development and uptake of the use of wrasse, gives examples of successful application of the technique, discusses ways to improve efficacy and reduce health issues, and then goes on to discuss the future of cleaner fish in aquaculture and other potential applications in ectoparasite control.
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