Solving the skin health crisis in salmon aquaculture

Salmon aquaculture is increasing in scale and intensity to meet the ever-growing demand for sustainable seafood. However, the sustainable development of the sector is threatened by many health and welfare issues. Skin health is the most pressing welfare issue in salmon production, and the greatest cause of mortality.

Injuries resulting from sea lice infestation, sea lice removal, and infection with winter ulcer disease are the most prevalent and harmful issues. These issues were major contributors to the over 100 million salmon that died prematurely on Norwegian farms in 2023. This loss of life and degree of suffering is unethical, unsustainable, and counterproductive.

Therefore, these issues must be urgently solved.

In this project, we will explore how delousing and winter ulcer disease affect skin health and resilience, and how these issues can be exacerbated or mitigated by environmental conditions.

Interactions between environmental parameters and skin function will be assessed to determine how skin health may be affected within an ever-changing climate, and to determine how environmental variables may modulate these aquaculture stressors.

This project will generate knowledge that can be used to inform management strategies to mitigate the effects of these ubiquitous stressors.

This will lead to improvements in fish welfare and thus productivity in a critical food production sector, with benefits not just for the industry, but for society as a whole.