Breathe

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

Gill disease is prevalent in farmed salmon from the yolk sac stage untill harvest, and can be caused by a multitude of biotic or abiotic factors such as bacteria, parasites, viruses, fungi, plankton and water quality. At the seawater stage, two of the most frequent problems for fish farmers are amoebic gill disease (AGD) and complex gill disease. Complex gill disease has so far been impossible to investigate under controlled conditions, as it caused by a combination of different factors and agents. Underlying gill issues leads to decreased fish welfare and lost growth for the farmers, and these fish will be more vulnerable to handling. Both AGD and CGD usually occur in periods of high sea lice numbers, and post sea lice treatment mortalities can be very high. We will investigate dietary strategies to minimize the negative effects of AGD infection, focusing also on the fishes robustness to sea lice treatments. As CGD is not possible to replicate in a controlled trial, we will also generate new knowledge on how functional diets can improve gill health status of fish in a commercial rearing facility.