Understanding sea louse larval biology and natural abundance to inform modelling and assist management of the Scottish salmon industry

The PhD project will take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding sea louse larval ecology and biology with the aim of supporting the salmonid aquaculture industry and wild fishery and their regulation in Scotland.

The project will generate key parameters currently weakly supported in dispersal modelling, including improved understanding of sea louse: 1) larval abundance, 2) fecundity, 3) fertility, 4) metabolism, and 5) swimming behaviour. Host infection processes continue to be extensively studied elsewhere and therefore will not be examined here.

Emphasis in this project will be placed on assessing all three larval stages including any differences resulting from local adaptation or between gravid female lice from farmed versus wild salmon.

In support of this, expertise at SAMS has been recently developed in field sampling of sea lice larvae and aquarium-based zooplankton handling, manipulation, imaging, and experimentation.

Animals will be obtained using an existing network of industry, fisheries trusts, and regulators developed through two previous projects (CES funded SPILLS project in partnership with industry and Marine Scotland Science, 2020-2022; and UHI Aquaculture Hub Industry Engagement Fund SeaLiceELS project in partnership with Mowi Scotland, 2022).

Experimental work in the SAMS aquarium will involve maintaining larval hatcheries and controlled experiments to assess aspects of larval biology, behaviour, and bioenergetics.