Thursday August 15, 2024
The Fish Site —
The study, which examined the regulatory management of Norway’s salmon farming sector, found no measurable impact of sea lice infections on wild salmon attributable to farmed salmon. The findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal, Reviews in Aquaculture.
Simon Jones, former scientist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and co-author of the review, commented on the findings: “The highly variable relationship between lice levels on wild salmon and salmon aquaculture in BC indicates the need for a greater understanding of all factors affecting the survival of wild salmon.”
Further evidence supporting these findings comes from the 2024 data released by the Broughton Archipelago wild juvenile salmon monitoring programme. The data indicates that despite the removal of salmon farms in the area, the variability in the percentage of sea lice on wild Pacific salmon has remained constant, with the average intensity of sea lice on wild salmon showing little change over the past 20 years.
Sea lice are naturally occurring marine parasites that have coexisted with wild salmon for millions of years. Farm-raised salmon, which are introduced into the ocean free of sea lice, are managed under stringent regulations by the DFO and First Nations to minimise the transmission of sea lice from farmed to wild salmon.