Salmon vaccine development

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

Salmon lice are ectoparasites that jeopardize the welfare of Atlantic salmon. As a result, they cause large economic losses to the salmon aquaculture industry. Traditional salmon lice control methods such as chemotherapeutics and mechanical/thermal delousing are available to fish farmers, but they are limited in terms of their usability by, for example, the build-up of sea lice resistance to those chemotherapeutics and concerns for environmental contamination, or the negative welfare impact of them on salmon. Vaccines offer a more sustainable alternative that can replace or complement current sea lice control measures. Unfortunately, there are no commercial vaccines available for use in countries such as Norway, the global leader in salmon production. PHARMAQ will develop strategies to discover and develop effective vaccines that can protect salmon from salmon lice infestation.