FACTSHEET

October 2009

Sea lice
A factsheet on sea lice.
Dispersion, regulations,
measures and results.

A minor parasite causes Why we

major challenges have to fight
sea lice
Sea lice are naturally occuring in
marine waters, and can move
through the waters and therefore
transfer from wild fish to farmed fish
and vice versa.

Lice can attach to the skin of the

fish where they live and breed. This
can cause wounds that may lead to
problems with the salt balance and
result in infections. An attack of ten
lice on a small fish could be fatal.

The development of salmon farming

The sea louse is an external parasite with salmonids as its host, i.e. salmon, trout,
rainbow trout and Arctic char. Photo: T. Poppe/NVH
Sea lice represent a challenge
for the aquaculture industry
and for wild salmonids.
Salmon fish farmers use significant
resources to keep the level of sea
lice low in the fish farming
facilities. The main aim for the fish
farming industry is that sea lice
from fish farming facilities will not
have a negative effect on the wild
fish populations.
Sea lice are naturally occurring
parasites of wild salmonids, and in
our waters two species are
described: Lepeophtheirus salmonis
preying on salmon and Caligus
elongatus that prey on more than 80
different species including salmon and
cod. Lepeophtheirus salmonis
represents the biggest challenge.
Sea lice are a crustaceans that grow
by changing its shell between the
different stages of development.
During the three free living stages lice
can spread over large areas through
the waters. When it attaches itself
to a salmon, it develops further
through four fixed stages and
three mobile stages, and ends up
along the coast has made it easier
than previously for the sea lice to
find hosts (salmon) in the sea. Lice
levels in the fish farming facilities
are therefore kept very low and do
not constitute a health problem for
the fish in salmon aquaculture, but
the levels of lice in the fjords may
result in increased pressure of
infection for wild salmonids.
Norway has important wild salmon
stocks and a significant aquaculture
industry. It is important to preserve
both. Lice infection can affect the
welfare and growth of farmed
salmon and thus also value creation
in aquaculture. It is therefore also in
the fish farmers’ interest to keep the
sea lice level in the facilities as low
as possible.

Wrasse (cleaning fish) eat up the problem

Wrasse.
Species of wrasse such as goldsinny, corkwing and ballan eat lice that have Photo: Villa
attached to salmon. Wrasse can therefore be used for natural de-lousing, and Organic
have showed a good effect along the cost north up to and including Lofoten.
Given the requirement for a very low level of lice in the aquaculture facilities, the wrasse represents a supplement to other
methods of fighting the problem. The farming of ballan wrasse is underway to improve access to wrasse.
 Regulations to
fight sea lice
All efforts to manage the sea lice
are based on regular monitoring
procedures. If the lice infection at
a facility exceeds a certain level,
a treatment scheme is initiated.
Medicines are prescribed by fish
health personnel and are
approved for use in aquaculture.
In 2009 revised sea lice
regulations are being drawn up
with measures to reduce the risk
of developing resistance. This is
being carried out in collaboration
with FHL/the aquaculture
industry, authorities and other
expert bodies.

New and old

weapons
Several tools are used to fight sea
lice. The effect is tested after
treatment. In this way the fish
farmer can identify any reduced
effect or resistance developed,
and follow up with the use of
other tools.
The coordination of delousing
measures ensures that all
facilities within a geographical
area reduce the pressure of lice
in the sea.
Bath treatment: Approved
1 medicine against sea lice is
added to the water in the fish
farming net cages, that are
shielded fully or partially using
a so-called “skirt” or tarpaulin.
Special feed: Approved
2 medicine is added to feed for
a period. The medicine stops
the developing lifecycle of the
lice.
Wrasse: Cleaning fish that
3 live in the net cages and eat
lice attached to the farmed
fish.
Vaccine developments:
4 There are few vaccines
against ectoparasites but the
industry believes that it is
possible to develop a vaccine
against sea lice.
Breeding against
5 lice: Can be pertinent
in the long-
term.
Delousing. Fish farming nets are shielded using tarpaulins before treatment start.
Photo: National Veterinary Institute
as an adult louse that breed on the
fish. She releases the fertilised eggs
into two sacks, “egg strings”. A female
can produce up to 10-11 pairs of such
sacks, each containing several
hundred eggs, during her lifetime.
Sea lice are marine parasites and
generally fall off the salmon after a
short time in fresh water. Wild salmon
bring lice with them from the sea
when they travel into the coastal
areas during the spring to spawn in
the rivers. Sea trout live in the fjords
and coastal waters all year round and
like farmed fish they can help to
maintain the continuous production of
sea lice. Thus in practice it is possible
for lice to travel between wild fish and
farmed fish and vice versa.
In salmon fish farming lice levels are
continuously monitored according to
legal requirements, by having the
number of lice counted every 14 days.
The countings of lice are reported
to the Norwegian Food Safety
Authority and the results are
available at www.lusedata.no.
Whenever regulatory treatment
trigger levels are exceeded, measures
are put in place to reduce the lice
levels. Effective treatment measures
have existed for several years
having led to sea lice not generally
representing a health problem for
farmed salmon. During 2008 certain
areas along the coast reported that
sea lice showed reduced sensitivity
to some of the anti-parasite
preparations.
This represents a serious challenge
for fish farmers, and potentially for
wild fish. New measures have been
put in place, including coordinated,
synchronous delousing campaigns,
and the lice situation in the spring of
2009 showed that the measures
implemented during the winter had
given the desired effects. This
reduced the pressure of infection on
wild salmonids in the fjord systems.
In order to succeed in the fight
against sea lice it is vital that all
known measures are implemented,
used correctly and by all fish
farmers. Medicines are only used
when necessary. Other important
efforts in the fight against sea lice,
are preventive measures, use of
wrasse as well as further research
and development on new measures.
Developing of a new vaccine and
breeding methods to produce
salmon that are more robust against
the parasite, is also on the agenda.

Other sources This factsheet is published by The Norwegian Seafood

Lakselus.no:
www.lakselus.no
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority:
www.mattilsynet.no
The Fishery and Aquaculture
Industry Research Fund: www.fhf.no
Federation (FHL). Comprehensive information about sea
lice and other relevant topics can be found in FHL’s
Environmental Report for 2008. FHL is the largest
employer organisation for the seafood industry and covers the entire value chain,
from fjord to table. FHL is affiliated with NHO. See also www.fhl.no/miljo