Catching the lice before they settle on the fish can improve fish welfare and reduce treatment-induced mortality

New Project to Prevent Sea Lice from Reaching Farmed Fish

Capturing lice larvae before they attach to farmed fish could improve fish welfare and reduce the need for lice treatments that often result in fish mortality. SINTEF Ocean is now leading a project to explore the feasibility of this preventive approach.

The company Blue Lice AS has developed and patented an innovative system that captures sea lice larvae before they can reach fish, using targeted light signals and pumps. This technology will be tested in real conditions at SINTEF ACE's aquaculture site on Singsholmen.

The Blue Lice system uses specific light signals to attract free-swimming lice larvae, which are then drawn in by a pump and collected in a filter. It is installed at a distance from the fish cages, ensuring it does not interfere with fish or daily operations.

"Shifting from treatment-based to preventive strategies for sea lice management could significantly benefit fish welfare in marine environments, reducing mortality associated with treatments," says SINTEF Ocean project manager Andreas Hagemann.

However, documenting the effectiveness of new preventive methods for sea lice in large-scale field trials is challenging due to significant seasonal and annual variations in lice populations, as well as differences in water movement around the cages.

"With solid, research-based documentation from this project, we aim to demonstrate the positive effects we've observed since 2020," adds Blue Lice’s general manager, Karoline Sjødal Olsen.

The “Lice Trap” Project

The researchers will quantify the effects of Blue Lice's technology as a preventative measure. Key objectives include documenting and comparing results from field trials across an entire production cycle at sea. This will involve using various methods, including mathematical lice models, weekly lice counts, real-time monitoring of captured lice, and DNA analysis from filter stations in the system.

“By conducting experiments with the system alternately turned on and off, we will have a strong basis for quantifying the effect of the lice traps,” explains senior researcher Solveig Engebretsen at the Norsk Regnesentral (Norwegian Computer Center).

Better documentation from the project will help reduce the risk of adopting new prevention methods, improve fish welfare, and reduce reliance on lice treatments.

The project is a collaborative effort involving Norsk Regnesentral, Blue Lice, NINAgen, and SINTEF ACE.

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