Development of diagnostic tests against local pathogenic bacteria in the Lumpfish industry.

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

To reach the UN's goals for sustainability the oceans must be utilized to a much higher degree than currently. One aspect of this is the farming of fish which has proved itself a success story in Norway. With the development of the salmon industry came new challenges like the battles against harmful micro-algae, pathogens or sea-lice. To prevent those, chemical treatments have been used for decades and are becoming less and less effective due to resistance building. Alternative and more ecosystem friendly solutions have appeared over the last few years and a very promising one is the use of cleaning fish in the salmon farm as they can feed on the sea-lice. This new industry of cleaner fish, mostly farmed on land (aquaculture) is growing fast. This is leading to new challenges such as pathogens outburst within the farms harming the fish and causing economical loss. This project aims to focus on the identification, detection and quantification of bacterial and viral pathogens that Lumpfish farmers often encounter and that presents the farmer with a risk to his production. By developing new tests the fish can be monitored more closely and effectively which lowers risk for the fish farmer and increases the health and quality of the fish.